


Ink on Ice

by Daughter of Vayu (aquaregia)



Series: Ink on Ice: a Yuri!! on Ice Mangaka!AU [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Mangaka!Yuuri, Skater!Victor, Victor turned into an otaku, Viktor is a fanboy, Yuuri is a fanboy, an AU which Yuuri is a mangaka, non-linear timeline, other anime or manga references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-01 13:57:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8627164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaregia/pseuds/Daughter%20of%20Vayu
Summary: Because a mangaka and figure skater just didn’t mix together. Or so people thought until they saw Katsuki Yuuri and Viktor Nikiforov.





	1. Paper and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where am I going with this actually... Written at two in the morning, hope this works fine... This fandom has consumed my soul, and I think I'm happy to give my soul to this fandom~
> 
> All the manga stuffs based on my own knowledge with the help from manga and anime such as Bakuman and others... hopefully, I got the stuffs right. If I was wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me. 
> 
> This story is now beta-read, thanks to my RP Soulmate, Mell, and the first five chapters are under construction^^
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it~

**Present**

 

Katsuki Yuuri stood nervously on the side of the rink; his camera ready in his hand to take another picture of the handsome silver haired male, who was currently doing his warm up lap across the ice. Yuuri blushed when the said male turned to him and smiled warmly, even going far enough to blow a kiss at him and made a heart gesture with his hands. Yuuri hid his face behind his camera as he saw his face appear on the large screen, and vaguely, he could hear the commentators saying something about him. Yuuri was ready to let the ground swallow him whole now. Trust Viktor Nikiforov to embarrass him like this. 

_“And there we see Viktor Nikiforov blow a kiss to his fiancé…”_

Please stop.

“ _Katsuki Yuuri-sensei looks pretty embarrassed now! His latest volume of ‘On ICE!!!’ is selling pretty well, and according to fans, his works have made figure skating pretty popular right now…_ ”

Yuuri begged the commentators to talk about something else. Nishigori Takeshi, his editor, grinned maniacally and even gave him two thumbs up. Just like Yuuri, Nishigori was holding a camera and was ready to take some pictures as well for reference. Yuuri smiled lightly as he looked at the ice again, where Viktor was done with his warm up and returned to his coach, Yakov Feltsman. Yuuri chuckled softly when he saw Yakov saying something, probably scolding Viktor, as usual.

How many years had passed now, since he had met Viktor? It was unexpected. Had it really been three years since his debut started? It had been about six months after he finally got engaged to Viktor. Yuuri smiled as he looked at the simple silver band around his ring finger. From his camera, Yuuri could see the matching silver band on Viktor’s ring finger as well.

It had all started a little bit over three years ago.

* * *

 

 

**Three years ago.**

 

“Why figure skating?” Nishigori Takeshi asked the man in front of him. Katsuki Yuuri looked beaten up, as he delivered his manuscript to Shueisha, a Japanese publishing company. From the look of it, the younger man in front of him had pulled an all-nighter to finish this one, and Nishigori had to admit, after Yuuri’s third attempt to send a manuscript, this one by far was the best.

Yuuri looked at Nishigori, slightly nervous. “Ah, well… I used to be a figure skater when I was in high school, but I got injured back then, so I turned to drawing manga,” he answered honestly. “And I thought… well, because I have an experience in that field, why not making a figure skating manga? I mean, there aren’t a lot of them around.”

“Mostly because they might not be suitable for Shounen JUMP,” Nishigori nodded. “But I like the idea. It’s fresh, your art is good, and the story is good too. I’ll put it up for consideration on Akamaru JUMP as a one-shot first, and we can see if it will be up for serialization. But for now, let’s talk about some improvements for this manuscript. Now, the first page…”

Nishigori and Yuuri talked for hours, editing each page of the manga, with Nishogori giving him some ideas and improvements to make the manga more JUMP-like. Yuuri absorbed everything like sponge, putting the suggestions in his notes and throwing in a few more ideas to be considered by Nishigori.

“I think your story will stand out more than the usual lineup for JUMP,” Nishigori grinned. “Let’s do our best together!”

And for the next three months, Yuuri was pouring his heart and soul into his work. He watched hundreds of figure skating videos, he went to exhibition shows, and drew like crazy, making name after name to be shown to Nishigori and approved. And whenever he felt like his arms would fall off after drawing so much, he would put on his private collection of his favorite figure skater. The one and only Viktor Nikiforov.

Yuuri sighed happily as he began watching the performance of Viktor in his Junior Grand Prix final. It was part of his work anyway, Yuuri nodded happily. Without thinking, he took a piece of paper and started to sketch Viktor just for the fun of it. And thus, Yuuri’s days filled with drawing, deadlines, and figure skating.

Until finally, Nishigori called him, Yuuri was currently bundled up on his couch, watching the latest video of Viktor winning his second consecutive gold medal in GPF. Until he heard that his manga will be serialized on JUMP. Yuuri screamed in excitement at the news. He quickly called his parents, telling them that his moving to Tokyo would be permanent now. He was glad he had already rented an apartment studio in Tokyo to make it easier for his serialization. Next thing he knew, he already had three assistants. Nishigori Yuko, his editor’s wife, Okukawa Minako, and an art student from Thailand, Phichit Chulanont.

 

* * *

 

 

“Another Viktor video?” Minako asked Yuuri who was currently laying down on the couch, watching figure skating videos as usual. Yuuri only blushed at the question. He had finished inking all the manuscripts and left the rest for his assistants. Phichit was doing the background and effects while Yuko and Minako put on the beta and screentone.

“Sensei, we told you we’ll handle the rest, so you can sleep before Nishigori-san comes,” Phichit sighed at the sight of the mangaka who was curling up like a baby while watching the televison.

“I’ll sleep after Nishigori-san leaves…” Yuuri mumbled. His eyes sparkled when he saw Viktor in the video do a quad flip smoothly.

“Yuuri is really a big fan of Viktor,” Yuko laughed softly.

“Big fan? His room is practically a shrine!” Minako sighed in exasperation. “How can you even sleep with so many Viktor Nikiforov posters on your wall?”

“The posters make me sleep better,” Yuuri mumbled.

“But the manga is getting really popular lately,” Phichit said as he finished drawing the background for the cover of ‘On ICE!!!’. “I heard some girls talking about it on the train while my way home yesterday. Girls love your ‘Alexei Romanov’ character. Clearly you based him on Viktor Nikiforov?”

Yuuri blushed and nodded. Minako snickered and patted Yuuri’s hair gently.

“But I wonder who the base of the main character is though?” Yuko smiled as she finished putting on the screen tone for ‘Himuro Rin’, the main character’s skating costume. “I heard from Takeshi the third volume of the manga will be published next month…”

“Yes… I’ve drawn the cover art for it,” Yuuri yawned, finally feeling sleepy. “I think I’m gonna sleep. Wake me up when Nishigori-san comes to pick up the manuscript…”

“Have a good rest, Yuuri!” Minako said and turned off the TV, while Yuuri walked to his room to sleep.

The three assistants continued their work until Nishigori came to pick up the manuscript. No one had the heart to wake Yuuri from sleep since they knew Yuuri had been working hard these past three days for the deadline. In the end, Yuuri was asleep for the next 24 hours.

 

* * *

  

Viktor Nikiforov never thought he would have this much free time when he arrived in Japan for Grand Prix Series. The first thing he did was ditch Yakov and Yuri Plisetsky, his junior rinkmate, before he heading out for his culinary adventure. It had been a while since the last time he was in Tokyo, and Minami Kenjirou, the Japan representative for GPF was kind enough to be his tour guide, and before he knew it, Christophe Giacometti had joined him as well.

The three of them headed out from the hotel, with Minami Kenjirou leading the trio through the streets of Tokyo.

“I want to try it… Katsudon!” Viktor said in excitement. “I’ve never tried it before, but I heard it’s good…!”

Minami laughed softly and nodded. “It is very good. I know a good restaurant further down the road,” Minami said. “It’s only a fifteen-minute walk.”

Both foreign men nodded and followed Minami along the street, taking in the view. Viktor and Chris insisted on buying takoyaki when they walked passed a takoyaki stand in the park, despite being on their way to the restaurant.

“This is good,” Chris said as he chewed on the takoyaki happily.

“Vkusno!!” Viktor cheered in an excited tone.

They continued to walk until their takoyaki was finished. This time, Viktor’s eyes wandered to a bookstore nearby. “Kenjirou, can we go to the bookstore next? I want to buy manga!”

“You read manga?” Chris raised an eyebrow at Viktor.

“I read comics, but in Japan, you should read manga, right?” Viktor grinned. “Come on!” he dragged both skaters into the bookstore and started to look around. Chris walked into one section that contained adult books while Viktor excitedly browsed through real Japanese manga. He frowned when he realized something astonishing to him.

”Kenjirou, all of these are in Japanese..!” he pouted.

“Of course they are,” Minami said as if it were the most obvious thing.

“But I can’t speak or read in Japanese!” Viktor whined. He wanted to buy at least one manga, but even if he bought it he couldn’t read it. So pouting, he just looked at the covers, promising himself he would learn Japanese so he could read the original Japanese manga. His eyes wandered to the new manga display, that was until something caught his eyes. A manga just like any other, but what caught his eye was the character on the cover, who wore a sparkling costume with skates on. He was posing as if he was doing an Ina Bauer.

“Oh? Is that the new volume of ‘On ICE!!!’?” Minami asked curiously as he saw the manga Viktor was holding.

Viktor blinked and saw the title that happened to be in English. It did say ‘On ICE!!!’ on the cover.

“It’s a very popular manga about figure skating,” Minami explained. “It’s still new, but it’s very good. The art and story are top notch, and since it’s about figure skating, I really like it…”

Viktor’s eyes sparkled at the mention of manga about figure skating. He looked at it again and smiled brightly. “I want to buy this! But this one says volume 2… Where is volume 1?” he questioned as he looked around. Minami helped him find the first volume. This one had different character doing something that looked like a flip, with dramatic scene behind him. Viktor ended up buying the first and second volume of ‘On ICE!!!’.

“But it’s in Japanese,” Chris said once they were out of the bookstore. Chris bought a city guidebook that was luckily in English.

“I still can see the pictures!” Viktor said happily. They chatted until they finally got to the restaurant. It was small but cozy. There weren’t that many visitors at this hour. They got a seat and ordered food from the menu. Viktor opened his manga while waiting, asking Minami to translate the words for him. Chris joined him reading the manga. Apparently, the story was about a young Japanese skater who was struggling with his career, and planned to retire early until he met a famous skater, who offered to be his coach after seeing the Japanese skater’s video on him trying to do the famous skater’s routine.

“This ‘Alexei’ guy… Is kinda like you, isn’t he?” Chris frowned.

“Really?” Viktor tilted his head curiously.

“I mean, come on, skating prodigy, Russian, world champion?” Chris smiled.

“Now come to think about it, it is!” Minami agreed.

Viktor laughed happily. “Well, I’m glad that I’m the inspiration for the character!” he explained. “But this manga is really good…” Viktor smiled happily as he studied the art. It really captured the beauty and intensity of figure skating, yet it wasn’t exaggerating like other sports manga Viktor had read before (in English or Russian, of course). “Is this manga still ongoing?” Viktor asked Minami.

“It is,” Minami nodded. “I think the third volume will be released next month.”

“Kenjirou, you should send me the new volume once it’s released then!” Viktor said quickly. It was truly an amazing manga, and Viktor found himself hooked immediately, even though he couldn’t understand what the character was saying. “Maybe I should send a fan letter to the author… what's their name..?” Viktor frowned when he saw the name in kanji. “How do you read these?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s Katsuki Yuuri,” Minami nodded. “He is the author of ‘On ICE!!!’.”

Viktor nodded and started to ask Minami about how he was supposed to send a fan letter to a mangaka. Minami explained it to him as Viktor took note. The night went on.

 

* * *

**Present**

 

“ _Perfect, ladies and gentlemen! It was a perfect performance of Viktor Nikiforov! Now the points for his short program…_ ”

Yuuri smiled as the commentators announced Viktor’s scores for his short program.

Viktor smiled brightly as he saw that he had gotten first place. His eyes quickly looking for Yuuri, before giving him a bright smile and V-sign. Yuuri returned the smile and gave a V-sign as well to Viktor. Yuuri couldn’t be more proud of him. He knew Viktor had been working hard on the choreography for his short and free program, and he smiled when he remembered even after the hard practice, Viktor still spent time staying with Yuuri whenever he was in Japan, while the young mangaka pulled another all-nighter to catch up with the deadline.

Viktor had told Yuuri about his retirement plan now. Yakov tried to push for another season, but Viktor was stubborn about his decision. Besides, he wanted to spend as much time with Yuuri now in Japan rather than their long distance relationship. He knew how hard Yuuri had to work so he could have several days off to come to Viktor’s competition. Sometimes Yuuri would come, looking paler and more tired than usual with dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, with cold compresses on his forehead and neck. At times like those, Viktor would do his best to take care of his Yuuri and made sure he was well rested.

Who knew a job as a mangaka could be _that_ demanding. It wasn’t a new thing, now that Yuuri would at least lose ten kilograms or more after Grand Prix Series. He lost more weight than the athletes that competed in it. Especially now that the manga had an anime adaptation, Yuuri’s workload had become more and more, because he insisted to be included on every decision made of the anime.

After a brief interview, Viktor quickly showered and changed out of his costume, before walking out to find Yuuri who was already waiting for him. Viktor smiled when he saw Yuuri looking well-rested today.

“Yuuri!” Viktor called and hugged the younger male happily.

“V-Viktor!” Yuuri smiled and blushed slightly since now, all eyes were turned to them, and he swore several reporters and paparazzi were taking pictures of them. Nishigori just took off when he saw Viktor was coming.

“It’s ‘Vitya’, Yuuri!” Viktor kissed his cheek. Yuuri chuckled softly, and patted Viktor’s head gently.

“You did great today,” Yuuri smiled. “I’m so proud of you! I know how hard you have been practicing ‘Eros’.”

“I was thinking about you all that time!” Viktor smiled. “I was the playboy trying to seduce the most beautiful man in town~” Viktor nuzzled Yuuri happily. “I was seducing Yuuri in my ‘Eros’ routine…”

“Oh? And were you planning on leaving me after you made me fall for you, like the playboy in your story?” Yuuri asked, as he remembered the first time Viktor described the story to him.

“I changed it! The playboy ended up falling in love with the most beautiful man, and decided to stay with him forever, so they can make hot passionate love to each other every single night…” Viktor whispered softly into Yuuri’s ear.

Yuuri blushed bright red before he regained control of his expression again.

“W-well… if you don’t have anywhere else to be right now, let’s go home…” he said, before taking Viktor’s hand in his and pulled him out into the cold to find a taxi.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name : a rough draft of manga made before it turns into a manuscript.  
> Beta : filling in the black space in manga.
> 
> This story is made while I'm high on caffeine. Comments and kudos will be appreciated.


	2. Pen and Skates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov turned into an otaku. And for the first time, Katsuki Yuuri and Viktor Nikiforov met each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive response to this AU! I'm so happy~
> 
> And if you have any suggestion about this AU, I'm really appreciated. I planned on making this a short multichapter, but it seems like it turned into a lot more than I planned it to be T_T And there are a lot of fanboy-ing in this chapter...
> 
> Feel free to drop any comment, and kudos would be really appreciated~ This hasn't been beta-read, so please forgive any grammatical mistakes...
> 
> Edited on: 12/5/2016

**Three years ago.**

 

Katsuki Yuuri was making a name for another chapter of ‘On ICE!!!’, wondering if he should introduce the new character now. He had talked to Nishigori in their last meeting about it (and Yuuri apologized for not being able to meet him when he came to pick up the manuscript). Yuuri just shrugged and decided it was time and began to draw. It was calm for a moment, and the soft sound of Yuuri’s compilation playlist of Viktor’s programs played in the background. The assistants wouldn’t come today, but Yuuri remembered he had a plan to meet with Nishigori this afternoon about the last manuscript he sent and the next name.

Everything was all calm and peaceful until suddenly…

“SENSEI!!!”

Yuuri jumped from his seat and his pencil scratched the surface of his name. Yuuri heard the hurried footsteps running in the hallway until the door to the studio burst open.

“Phichit-kun?” Yuuri tilted his head in confusion as he watched the younger male, who was now out of breath while holding a box in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

 

“This… This…!” Phichit was still out of breath as his hands were shaking when he handed Yuuri the box. On top of the box, Yuuri could see the writings neatly stating, “Fan letters for Katsuki-sensei”.

 

“These are fan letters…” Yuuri frowned. He didn’t see what was wrong with fan letters. He got a lot of fan letters since his debut. They were always sent to the editorial department first though, before Nishigori or one of his assistants delivered them to him. It seemed like it was Phichit’s turn this time.

 

“No… no… not just fan letters!” Phichit explained quickly. “Open it. The first letter on top of the pile.”

Still feeling confused, Yuuri brought the box to his desk and opened it. It was always amazing to him how many fan letters he got, and it always drove Yuuri to tears when he read them. But this time, he followed Phichit’s instruction and took the first letter on top of the pile. He frowned when he saw the address written neatly in roman letters instead of kanji. And from the look of it, it was probably from abroad. He didn’t know ‘On ICE!!!’ had an international reputation already, since he never heard about his work was being translated to other languages. Yuuri hoped someday it did, though. He flipped the envelope to see the name of the sender.

And his blood ran cold.

Freezing cold.

He heard Phichit yell, “Sensei!!” before his world went dark.

On the envelope, the name of the sender was neatly written.

And it said, ‘Viktor Nikiforov’.

 

* * *

 

 

Everyone went into panic mode when they heard Yuuri passed out after opening the box. Phichit called Nishigori, Nishigori told Yuko, and Yuko called Minako. The news broke out in the whole JUMP editorial department that Katsuki-sensei was dying and now on his way to the hospital, with barely any pulse and no longer breathing. Everything went into chaos.

Until they found out that Yuuri had just passed out from shock, and he wasn’t dying or anything, he was fine and didn’t need to be brought to the hospital. Phichit had hid the letter in fear that Yuuri would pass out again if he saw it. He had to make sure the mangaka was healthy enough before he attempted to read the letter. Nishigori, being the good editor he was, postponed their meeting and let Yuuri rest for a while. Phichit offered to take care of Yuuri since he felt responsible about what happened to him.

“Phichit-kun… was that real…? Was that really a letter from Viktor Nikiforov…?” Yuuri asked Phichit.

“Apparently, yes. The sender address came from Russia, as well as the stamp,” Phichit nodded.

“Oh no… What if it wasn’t a fan letter? What if it was a hate letter… or… or… I don’t know, a cursed chain letter…” Yuuri honestly didn’t care how ridiculous he sounded right now.

“Do you really think Viktor Nikiforov would do that?” Phichit asked.

Yuuri turned his gaze to the posters of Viktor on his walls and the small shrine dedicated for Viktor in the corner of his room. “No… No, Viktor is a good guy… He won’t do that…”

“There you go,” Phichit nodded and patted Yuuri’s hair proudly.

“But… why would Viktor Nikiforov send me a letter? Does he even know me? I mean, I know, I’m a mangaka and all that, and from Nishigori I know ‘On ICE!!!’ is doing really well… but I don’t think I’m famous enough to have an international reputation that would catch Viktor’s eyes…”

“Well, last week was NHK Trophy in Tokyo, right? We watched it together and Viktor was in Japan… maybe he asked around about manga or something…”

“Viktor likes reading comics,” Yuuri mumbled softly.

“See? Maybe he was... interested in manga and found one about figure skating?”

Suddenly Yuuri blushed bright red at the thought that his idol might have read his manga about figure skating. And with one of the characters based on him! Yuuri let out a pitiful whimper before he hid his face in the pillow. This was so embarrassing! He never thought that someone like Viktor would bother to read a manga he wrote… just the thought of it was surreal to him.

“Phichit-kun, is this a dream?” he asked slowly.

“No, Sensei, it’s real life,” Phichit said. He was fiddling with his phone for a while, as Yuuri contemplated his career choice.

“Look, Sensei, Viktor even tweeted about reading ‘On ICE!!!’,” Phichit showed him the tweet.

 

> Viktor Nikiforov @v-nikiforov. 20m
> 
> Reading #OnICE!!! #mangasogood. Wished I can read in Japanese. Thank you so much #katsukiyuuri

 

Yuuri passed out for the second time that day.

 

* * *

 

 

In the end, it took two days until Yuuri was ready to read the letter from Viktor Nikiforov. Nishigori was becoming impatient since the deadline was so close and Yuuri hadn’t finished the name. So with shaky hands, Yuuri carefully opened the letter as if it was an ancient papyrus treasure map. He gasped when he saw the neatly written letter in English. Yuuri was glad he was proficient enough in English now.

 

> _Dear Mr. Katsuki,_
> 
> _My name is Viktor Nikiforov, and I’m a big fan of your manga. I read it when I was in Japan, well, actually I’m not really reading it since I can’t speak or read Japanese, but I have my friend read it to me and I find it really enjoyable. I really love the manga, and I hope I can find the translated version soon. I plan on learning Japanese so I can read it on my own. I’ll be looking forward for more interesting stories from you. ‘On ICE!!!’  has given me more inspiration in my career and I’m really thankful for that._
> 
> _Please keep up the good work, Mr. Katsuki and stay healthy. I want to read more of your works._
> 
> _Sincerely,_
> 
> _Viktor Nikiforov_

 

Yuuri was in daze for two days straight after that. Nishigori scolded him because he ended up being 24-hour passed the deadline.

 

* * *

 

 

Viktor Nikiforov was serious when he said he would learn Japanese so he could read manga. And as usual, once he was determined to do something, Viktor was going all out. He asked the help from his Japanese rinkmate. He bought an electronic dictionary, and kept contact with Minami to learn the language. Hiragana and katakana came easily, but he still had problems with kanji. He used every means necessary until he finally, _finally_ , was able to read the whole first volume of ‘On ICE!!!’. He was proud. It only took him two months anyway.

As his Japanese contact, Minami helped by supplying Viktor with manga and merchandise. The first thing he got was an ‘On ICE!!!’ hand towel which he used every day for practice. Mila Babicheva even teased him, saying that hand towel was an adult version of a security blankie. Viktor even participated on the quiz from JUMP (with help from Minami of course) to win more merchandise. Soon, his room filled with various things about that figure skating manga. He remembered Yuri face palmed when Viktor showed up to practice one day, donning a bright purple T-shirt with ‘On ICE!!!’ and the picture of the character Himuro Rin on it proudly.

“As long as you don’t start reading the doujinshi too,” his Japanese rinkmate said.

“What’s a doujinshi?” Viktor asked.

“Well, to put it simple, it’s a manga written by fans,” he explained.

That night, Viktor called Minami and asked him if he could find Viktor some ‘On ICE!!!’ doujinshi. Minami said he would try to find some and sent it to Viktor. Viktor was happy; he didn’t know why he deserved such a good friend like Minami.

So after that, Viktor also owned several doujinshi which were neatly arranged on the shelves along with his ‘On ICE!!!’ manga. He was so proud of them, and reading the manga made him want to practice harder and do better. Especially after he read Rin’s struggle to practice with the help from Alexei. Viktor knew he had to aim higher!

He wanted to send more fan letters to Katsuki Yuuri-sensei, but he was afraid he might bother the mangaka, especially after he heard from fans in the forum (yes, he joined ‘On ICE!!!’ fans forum) that Katsuki-sensei always replied to their fan mail one by one. Such dedication! So nowadays, Viktor usually just posted things on his social media page, recommending the manga to everyone. He still sent occasional fan letters once every few months.

And the manga was getting more and more popular, there was even a plan to make an anime and live-action adaptation.

Viktor was excited.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two years ago.**

 

Katsuki Yuuri came to the NHK Trophy again, this time it was held in Sapporo. So, with Nishigori and Phichit in tow, they got into the bullet train and went to Sapporo to watch Grand Prix Series for manga reference. Yuuri was glad he decided to bundle up when they made their way to Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena, where the figure skating competition would be held. The area was packed with people, but Yuuri, Phichit, and Nishigori managed to find a good spot to watch and take photos for reference.

They watched each performance in excitement, cheering loudly when they watched the Japan representative, Minami Kenjirou, enter the ice rink for his short program. And after Minami, came the legendary Viktor Nikiforov. Yuuri swore he was screaming louder than ever before.

It was phenomenal. And as anybody could guess, Viktor got the first place for his short program after breaking the record. Yuuri watched him be interviewed by reporters from afar, before Nishigori told him that they should return to their inn now. Nishigori would not join Yuuri and Phichit for the next day’s free skate program, so it was only the two of them.

“Viktor is really famous, huh?” Phichit said as he and Yuuri watched the sports news on the hotel television.

“Of course he is famous. He wins gold medals everywhere he goes,” Yuuri sighed. “And to think someone like that would send me a fan letter every now and then in the past year…”

“Why don’t you send him a fan letter as well?” Phichit questioned.

“W-well, I did… when I replied to his… it ended up being a three-page essay. I asked Nishigori to help me make it a decent length,” Yuuri blushed in embarrassment. “Do you think we can get his autograph tomorrow?”

“Didn’t you already have one?”

“No. I kept attending his competitions whenever they were held in Japan, but I never managed to get an autograph,” Yuuri sighed.

“I bet he wants your autograph too,” Phichit grinned.

“Why would he want that?” Yuuri frowned.

Phichit looked at Yuuri with a confused look on his face. “Sensei, don’t you have a social media account?” Phichit asked.

“No,” Yuuri shook his head.

Phichit face palmed as he grabbed Yuuri’s phone. He smiled at the Viktor wallpaper on Yuuri’s phone, before he started to make an account for Yuuri on every available social media. He then taught Yuuri to take selfies and posted it on Instagram. “See, if you have this, you can stalk Viktor on every social page he has,” Phichit said. “And looked at this post! See, he is collecting ‘On ICE!!!’ merchandise, even the doujinshi. If he isn’t an avid fan, I don’t know what he is.”

“Do you think he will recognize me?” Yuuri asked curiously.

“Hmm… Sensei doesn’t usually make public appearances, right? I doubt he will recognize you right away,” Phichit said frankly.

Yuuri sighed. Phichit was right. No one ever recognized him as a famous mangaka, which made him a bit sad. But as long as he made good manga, he wouldn’t mind. He liked it when his fans were happy, even though they wouldn’t recognize him when they were walking down the street. But Yuuri was happy enough while he stalked the skater’s social media page.

 

* * *

**Present**

 

“What are you doing?” Viktor asked Yuuri, while they curled up on the couch after they had gotten back home a few minutes ago. Yuuri was still fiddling with his phone quietly. Feeling ignored, Viktor threw himself at Yuuri, making the younger male drop his phone and smack his face in the process.

“Vitya!” Yuuri scolded, before rubbing his nose that got hit by the phone.

“I feel abandoned!” Viktor pouted.

 “We make headlines, you know,” Yuuri sighed. “I might be the mangaka that has the most public appearance now,” Yuuri sighed and glanced at the paparazzi shots from some news site. The pictures showed Viktor holding hands with Yuuri and kissing his cheek just outside the rink after the competition.

“Stop reading gossip articles, Yuuri. I know you secretly love to read about how the media thinks of our relationship,” Viktor teased.

“Yakov texted me and told me to make sure you rest tonight for your free skate tomorrow,” Yuuri said and hugged Viktor gently. “And Nishigori asked me to draw a cover for the color spread edition…”

“So you’ll be busy the whole night?” Viktor looked sad at the thought of sleeping alone on their bed while Yuuri finished up with his work.

“I’ll join you as soon as I’m finished,” Yuuri sighed and stretched his body.

Viktor watched him as Yuuri’s t-shirt rode up slightly while he stretched.

“Did you lose weight again?” Viktor asked.

“Hm? Not sure… maybe?” Yuuri pulled at the sweatpants he wore. It felt looser than usual. The again, he always lost weight whenever Viktor wasn’t off season because the amount of all-nighters he pulled.

Viktor sighed and stood up. He touched Yuuri’s cheek gently and smiled. “I’ve talked to Yakov about the retirement. He wants to push me for another season, but I refused. I want to be with you and take care of you…” Viktor was always worried about Yuuri’s condition. The younger male could be really careless about his health. At times Yuuri could be chubbier than usual, then he could just lose it because of all his work. It couldn’t be healthy for human body to have their weight fluctuate like that, and Viktor could only do so much when he was in Russia with his training. He thusted Phichit, Yuuri’s assistant and best friend, enough to keep an eye on Yuuri, but Viktor wanted to take care of Yuuri himself.

Besides, it was time for him to retire anyway. He could be a good house-husband for Yuuri, or Viktor could be a coach for figure skaters here in Japan instead of Russia.

Yuuri smiled as he looked up to Viktor. “So you will stay here?” he asked.

“Yes. Maybe even permanently since it would be impossible for you to move to Russia with your job here,” Viktor nodded. “What do you think?”

“Hmm… I think it would be wonderful,” Yuuri said. He leaned up and pecked Viktor’s lips gently.

 

* * *

**Two years ago.**

 

“It’s really beautiful!” Phichit said in excitement after the free skate program was over. And as anybody could guess, Viktor Nikiforov got first place with a rather large margin from Chris and Minami who got second and third place, respectively. “And we got nice pictures for reference too,” Phichit waved his camera happily. “Viktor was really awesome in his free skate. That quad flip was perfect.”

Yuuri quickly nodded as an agreement. “Do you think they are done with the interview by now?” Yuuri asked slowly to Phichit. “I want to get a picture of Viktor since we’re already here… and maybe autograph too…” Yuuri was blushing and stammering like the fanboy he was. Phichit could already imagine the framed photo of Yuuri and Viktor, along with the autograph being put on the center of Yuuri’s Nikiforov Holy Shrine. Sometimes Phichit wondered if there was an actual God residing in that shrine. Like Fanboy God or something.

Phichit knew he had read too many manga about that jersey wearing shrine-less God lately.

“Phichit-kun, he’s here…!” Yuuri whispered dramatically to Phichit when they saw Viktor and his coach, Yakov, walk passed the reporters towards the lobby of the skating rink. Yuuri was holding his camera nervously, he was so close now, but he didn’t have any courage to say anything. So, Yuuri, being the cute little fanboy he was, he just stared. Phichit felt like he wanted to just face palm at Yuuri’s sudden nervousness now.

Phichit wanted to say something to Yuuri, but at that moment, Viktor Nikiforov turned and glanced at Yuuri who was still staring at his idol. Viktor’s gaze fell to the camera in Yuuri’s hands and gave a charming smile.

“A commemorative photo?” Viktor Nikiforov asked them as if he were already used to people asking for a photo. “Sure,” Viktor smiled at Yuuri. And before Yuuri could say anything, Phichit pushed the slightly taller mangaka towards Viktor.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Nikiforov!” Phichit grinned and prepared his camera, thanking Viktor in English. “Come on, Sensei! I’ll take your picture, and you can take mine after,” Phichit said quickly to Yuuri in Japanese.

Before Yuuri could react, Viktor already put his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder and pulled the shorter male closer, as he smiled at the camera. Yuuri was blushing bright red when he realized how warm Viktor was. ‘And he smells nice too,’ Yuuri thought as his face got even more red at the thought.

“Smile~!” Phichit said, before counting down and taking a few pictures of Viktor and Yuuri.

Yuuri tried his best to smile,but his heart was pounding at the close proximity of Viktor right now. After he was done, Phichit wanted to ask Yuuri to take one with Viktor and Phichit, but seeing Yuuri was shaking so much, Phichit asked for a selfie instead. After Viktor gave them his autograph, Phichit and Yuuri thanked the famous figure skater and wished him good luck.

Viktor laughed and thanked them. “I’ll do my best!” he said.

Phichit and Yuuri watched Viktor Nikiforov walk away with his coach.

“Sensei, look!” Phichit exclaimed happily and pointed. Viktor was talking to Yakov, but now, Yuuri could clearly see a familiar blue looking hand towel in Viktor’s hand. He knew that towel very well, since he helped designed it. It was limited merchandise for ‘On ICE!!!’.

Yuuri blushed shyly.

Phichit grinned and patted Yuuri’s back gently. “Told you that he is your fan as well!”

And that was the first meeting of the mangaka, Katsuki Yuuri, and figure skater, Viktor Nikiforov.

 


	3. Ink and Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov turned into a mess we called 'fanboy'...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this chapter earlier than planned to celebrate Yuuri's birthday! Happy Birthday, Yuuri-kun! *Since it's already 29th November in my place*
> 
> I decided to rewrite this whole chapter because the original plot got too convoluted it feels like a bad episode of soap opera... I hope this one works okay XD 
> 
> Oh, and also a warning for OOC Viktor, I guess? *shrug*
> 
> Edited: 12/5/2016
> 
> Feel free to drop any comments~ I wrote faster with words of encouragement, so tell me what do you think~

**Two years ago.**

 

Viktor told himself he might have just met the cutest fan a few minutes ago. Yakov was still talking non-stop, but Viktor just ignored his coach. The man looked like any other average Japanese male, only a few centimeters shorter than Viktor himself, with slightly messy hair and big brown eyes behind the dorky looking glasses he wore. Viktor chuckled when he remembered how nervous he was, and let his friend, who seemed to be of South-East Asian descent, do the talking.

Well, it wasn’t the first time Viktor faced a nervous fan that could barely talk to him. But somehow, this Japanese man and his cheerful friend intrigued Viktor. Viktor absentmindedly checked his phone, and lazily browsed through his Instagram account.

Minami posted the picture of his medal and flower bucket proudly. Chris posted his silver winning picture as well. Some fans and his friends tagged Viktor in their photos and Viktor, being famous for his fan service, liked the pictures.

Until one particular photo popped up.

‘Hm? This is the selfie I just took with those two…’ Viktor thought as he opened the picture. ‘Phichit? That’s probably the shorter guy’s name,’ Viktor thought. The selfie was taken nicely, and this Phichit had tagged him. In the corner of the photo, he could see the adorable fan of his, blushing. Viktor read the caption and saw glasses-kun (yes, Viktor decided to call him Glasses-kun for now) was mentioned.

 

> Congratulation, @v-nikivorof!
> 
> @katsudon-kun was being shy in the back…
> 
> #GPSeries #Sapporo #figureskating #viktornikiforov

 

Katsudon-kun? Viktor chuckled at the name. He found the account of katsudon-kun (he changed it quickly from Glasses-kun), and found it wasn’t locked. There were only two photos posted. The first one was a selfie of Phichit and katsudon-kun, another one was the scenery of the Tokyo skyline, judging from the sight of the Tokyo Skytree in the picture. Viktor looked at the profile and saw the name of katsudon-kun. Katsuki Yuuri, 23 years old, single. Who put that in their Instagram profile?

Viktor saw his several other accounts listed on other social media. Twitter, Facebook… he chuckled. Katsuki Yuuri, what a nice name, though it sounded very familiar. Viktor frowned.

“Vitya… Vitya, are you even listening to me?” Yakov asked Viktor with an angry scowl on his face.

He should’ve known better than to lecture Viktor.

“I’m sorry, what was it again, Yakov?” Viktor asked in an innocent tone which only pissed Yakov even more.

“One of these days, Vitya! One of these days you will regret never listening to me!” Yakov rubbed his forehead tiredly. Then Yakov continued to scold him about how he should listen to his coach because Yakov always wanted the best for Viktor, and so on.

Viktor was still too distracted with Katsuki Yuuri, who was apparently his adorable fan, with a very familiar name. His eyes were looking for clues, until he saw a bookstore across the skating rink. His eyes widened as the realization smacked him in the face.

_No way._

_Hell, no._

Viktor reached into his duffel bag and fished out the second volume of  the ‘On ICE!!!’ manga he always carried around, and read religiously before he skated his programs as if it were a good luck charm. His eyes were quickly searching on the cover until he saw it. Written in the same kanji.

 _Katsuki Yuuri_.

…

…

…

You see, Viktor always considered himself as a calm, affectionate gentleman. His fans called him princely, even. He was the epitome of cool and suave, sophisticated. He was graceful, elegant, as the critics and reviews on the sports section and magazine always said. He was _dignified_.

And right now, he was shrieking like a fangirl on sugar high, while watching their OTP kiss in canon.

Which gave Yakov a heart attack.

“Vitya! What?!” Yakov asked, grumpily holding his chest as if it would calm his heart down.

Viktor was too far gone for a real conversation and started to run laps around the skating rink, screaming about how he was being stupid. He had just met his favorite mangaka, and didn’t ask for an autograph or take a selfie together to be posted on his Instagram.

 

* * *

 

 

Viktor was contemplating if he should send a message to Phichit and ask if this Katsuki Yuuri was the same Katsuki Yuuri, the mangaka Viktor loved so much. He read ‘On ICE!!!’ once again, trying to find any clues about it. The name Katsuki Yuuri wasn’t that common in Japan, right? Maybe there were other Yuuri’s, and this one might not be the mangaka Katsuki Yuuri.

And Katsuki Yuuri might be a pen name, and this adorable fan of his just coincidentally had the same name as the mangaka.

But Viktor wanted him to be the real Katsuki Yuuri as much as he wanted Alexei to ask Rin out on a date already. Viktor was in agony as he read the manga once again.

His phone rang loudly in the silence of the room. Viktor glanced at the name shown on the screen. Yuri Plisetsky, his cute junior rink mate that was always as angry as a little tsundere kitten.

“Yuri~! Do you miss me?” Viktor asked happily.

“ _No. Yakov told me you’re acting weird today and told me to check up on you_ ,” Yuri’s salty voice could be heard over the phone.

“Are you worried about me?” Viktor grinned. Yuri was such a tsundere!

“ _Like hell I am. You sound fine and annoying. Maybe it’s just you being you_ ,” Yuri said. “ _I won gold by the way_.”

“Congratulations! We should celebrate once Yakov and I return to St. Petersburg,” Viktor said in his cheerful tone.

“Whatever. Bye.”

Yuri ended the call and Viktor sighed, returning to his moping and layed down on the bed, while reading his manga.

Should he ask or not? What if Phichit said, ‘yes, he is Katsuki Yuuri the mangaka’. Then what should Viktor do? He had thought they were just any other fans, not… not his idol! And he offered a commemorative photo too… and casually wrapped his arms around Katsuki Yuuri-sensei’s shoulder (and man, Katsuki Yuuri was very warm and cuddly, Viktor wanted to keep him as a body pillow).

His attention shifted back to the manga at hand. This one volume was his favorite so far, where Alexei’s little brother, Sergei, came to take Alexei back to Russia. They ended up in a competition where Sergei and Rin would perform against each other doing a program choreographed by Alexei himself. If Sergei won, Alexei would go back with him, and if Rin won, Alexei would stay.

Viktor laughed softly since this ‘Sergei’ character reminded him a lot of Yuri. A brash, loud, rude, and angry little fluff ball. What Viktor loved the most about this volume was the detailed sequence of their performances. Katsuki Yuuri-sensei (who might be the adorable guy Viktor had taken a photo with a few hours ago) was playing with his art, making it so dynamic; Viktor swore he could hear the music from the unmoving black and white pictures. How the mangaka could do that, Viktor had no clue. Or maybe it was just Viktor being overly sensitive about these things.

‘I wonder if Yakov would let me put one of these performances into my routine?’ Viktor thought happily. Maybe Viktor should try it just for fun instead of in competition? That could be a lot of fun. Like doing it for the exhibition gala or something. Viktor had fun putting together the program he just read from the manga in his head for a while.

He grabbed his phone and started to pray to whatever deity would listen to him (Fanboy God?) for the courage to finally message Phichit Chulanont.

 

> _Hi, Phichit. I was wondering if your friend Katsuki Yuuri is the same Katsuki Yuuri as the mangaka that wrote ice skating manga called ‘On ICE!!!’?_

It sounded stupid, but Viktor already sent it.

 

> _Oh, you just realized it?_

Phichit’s answer was quick.

Viktor’s Instagram account gave him a notification that he was just mentioned in a picture Phichit just posted. Viktor opened it curiously and gasped.

In the photo was the same Katsuki Yuuri he just saw a few hours ago, smiling shyly from behind the desk, holding up a drawing of something that looked like the fifth chapter’s cover of ‘On ICE!!!’ and a pen in his other hand.

Oh, God.

He wanted to cry now.

Viktor screenshot the picture to save the photo to his phone, and creepily set it up as his wallpaper.

And then he proceeded to scream into his pillow and roll around on the bed until Yakov knocked on his door, asking if he should call an ambulance to get Viktor to the hospital.

 

* * *

 

 

Phichit laughed after he posted the picture, which made Yuuri, who was sitting across him in a famous ramen shop in Sapporo, look at him weirdly.

“Is something funny, Phichit-kun?” Yuuri asked.

“Hahaha, no, not really. I just imagine he is having the same mental breakdown as you did when you received the fan letter,” Phichit said before happily slurping his ramen. Hmm, it was perfect.

“What are you talking about?” Yuuri frowned and ate his gyoza.

 “Viktor Nikiforov asked me if you were the Katsuki Yuuri who wrote ‘On ICE!!!’ and I told him ‘yes’. I posted the picture of you,  proudly showing off that cool cover of the fifth chapter and mentioned him in the caption,” Phichit smiled innocently.

“Phichit-kun!!!” Yuuri whined, and hid his face in his hands, feeling embarrassed.

 

* * *

 

 

**Present**

 

“Yuuri, let’s have a date after this,” Viktor said as he took off his skate guards and prepared for his warm up. He was leaning close to Yuuri who had stood by the side of the rink with his trusty camera in his hand. Yuuri chuckled softly and patted Viktor’s hair.

“Win a gold medal, I might consider it,” Yuuri teased him.

Viktor whooped happily. Yakov yelled at him and told him to ‘stop flirting with your fiancé get on the ice already!’ Yuuri smiled guiltily at Yakov. The older man just sighed and rubbed his forehead. Yuuri felt bad for Yakov since Viktor never listened to his coach. Usually, Yakov just asked Yuuri to make sure Viktor did certain things, and since Yuuri was the adult in the relationship, he happily helped Yakov.

“I’m sorry he’s such an airhead, Yakov,” Yuuri said to the coach.

“Nah, it’s not your fault. He was airhead before he even met you,” Yakov sighed.

“Oh, before I forget, I heard from Vitya you won an award for your manga. Congratuliations,” Yakov nodded and shook Yuuri’s hand.

“A-Ah… Thank you,” Yuuri smiled happily. Yakov might look all grumpy and gruff, but Yuuri knew deep down, the man was really kind. Both of them turned to the rink again and watched the warm up. Yuuri blinked when he saw Viktor was waving at Yuuri and pointed at him. Yuuri frowned in confusion and pointed at himself with a questioning frown on his face.

Viktor nodded and grinned.

“ _Oh? It seems like Viktor Nikiforov is planning on doing something for his fiancé, Katsuki Yuuri-sensei, this time…_ ”

The commentators really loved Viktor’s antics on ice. Especially if it was directed to Yuuri. Phichit said it was because how lovey-dovey they always were with each other. And the media loved those things. Yakov already face palmed as Viktor skated smoothly and prepared for a jump.

“ _It’s a quad flip, ladies and gentlemen! A quad flip for his fiancé…_!”

“ _Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri-sensei are always the highlight with their antics. It’s refreshing_ ,” the other commentator added.

Yuuri hoped the ground would swallow him from how red his face was right now. Yuuri covered his face in embarrassment as Viktor made a ‘heart’ gesture with his hands and continued his warm up with a wide grin on his face.

“I change my mind. I’m not going on a date with him,” Yuuri mumbled, his face was still blushing since Viktor tended to always put him under the spotlight in his skating competition. This was why sometimes Yuuri preferred to be among the audience which made it harder for Viktor to spot him and thus, spare him from the embarrassment of being the topic for commentators.

But seeing that smile on Viktor’s face suddenly made Yuuri reconsidered his decision.

Damn you, Nikiforov.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two years ago.**

 

> _Dear Katsuki-sensei,_
> 
> _Congratulations for the anime adaptation of ‘On ICE!!!’ that will be aired next year. I read about it on the news from the copy of JUMP that Minami Kenjirou sent to me.  I’m really excited to finally watch Alexei, Rin, and Sergei on television._
> 
> _Your manga has inspired me so much, and helped me through my figure skating career. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner, but it was you who I offered to take commemorative photo after my gold winning in Sapporo about a week ago for NHK Trophy. I’m really glad Katsuki-sensei came to watch the competition (for reference?) and saw my performance (you did watch it, right?). I don’t mean to sound a creep, but I’m really glad I met Katsuki-sensei directly like that, even though I didn’t know it was you. I have to ask your assistant, Phichit Chulanont about it and him confirm it._
> 
> _I’m looking forward for your work, Katsuki-sensei. Let’s do our best!_
> 
> _Sincerely,_
> 
> _Viktor Nikiforov_
> 
> _P.S. I also sent a fan art along with this letter, hope you will like it!_
> 
> _P.P.S. When will Alexei finally go out on a date with Rin?_
> 
>  

Behind the letter was a badly drawn fanart of Rin doing what Yuuri thought was supposed to be an Ina Bauer. But Yuuri could feel the love and passion Viktor put into his fan art, so Yuuri framed it and added it into his Viktor Nikiforov Shrine.

 


	4. Manuscript and Choreography

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there was anime talk and Viktor Nikiforov planned his vacation in Japan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comments~! They're making my day! Keep them coming because they inspired me~ XD
> 
> There will be several anime references in this chapter; that one particular basketball anime and Russia Sushi. Because I want Viktor to eat at Russia Sushi... It's good! It's cheap!
> 
> Comiket or Comic Market is the largest doujinshi fair held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan.
> 
> Edited : 12/6/2016

**Present.**

 

“Yuuri! I won the gold! Will you go on a date with me?” Viktor asked loudly when he saw Yuuri and Yakov join him after he finished with the interview. Yuuri face palmed at his obnoxious fiancé, while the other skaters threw them dirty looks, as if winning gold was so easy for Viktor his fiancé just promised him a date if he won.

But Viktor didn’t seem affected and only pulled Yuuri into a bear hug. “Let’s go to Ikebukuro this time!”

Yuuri chuckled and patted his hair gently. “Well, I can spare some time today,” Yuuri smiled. He remembered the name he promised to show Nishigori tomorrow, and it still hadn’t been finished yet. But Viktor looked so happy right now, Yuuri didn’t have a heart to say he had work to do. Well, he could do it after their date, and maybe finish it before meeting Nishigori. Yeah, he would do that.

Viktor whooped. Yakov told him to not exert himself since they were still in the middle of the season. Viktor only grinned and told the older coach he would be okay, and dragged Yuuri out of the ice rink to call a taxi.

“Why Ikebukuro though?” Yuuri asked Viktor once they got into the taxi.

“Hmm… No reason. I want to take pictures with the owl statue,” Viktor smiled. “And I want to try Russia Sushi!”

“Russia Sushi?” Yuuri looked at Viktor curiously.

“Yup. Apparently there’s a sushi shop in Ikebukuro ran by a Russian man. Thus named Russia Sushi. The place is quite famous,” Viktor explained. “Really, Yuuri, I’m more up-to-date with something like this than you are!”

“Well, I’m more up-to-date than you on other things,” Yuuri said defensively.

“Hm? Like what?’ challenged Viktor.

“Uhm… like… uh… Second season of ‘On ICE!!!’ is finally confirmed?” Yuuri said. He just received the news from Nishigori about an hour ago, and hadn’t told anyone about it. He looked at Viktor only to see his shocked face.

“HOLY SHIT!”

“Viktor…”

“YUURII, THAT’S INCREDIBLE!!!”

“Viktor…”

“WE SHOULD MARATHON THE FIRST SEASON BEFORE THE SECOND ONE COMES OUT!!”

“Viktor…!”

 

* * *

 

**Two years ago.**

 

Yuuri couldn’t remember the exact time when his relationships with Viktor Nikiforov shifted from idol-and-fan into some kind of friendship. If you call exchanging comments on social media, re-tweeting posts on twitter, online chat, tagging each other on Instagram posts and a video calls here and there a friendship. Yuuri wanted to thank Phichit for his genius idea to get Yuuri’s social media accounts where he could stalk Viktor (and Viktor was secretly also stalking him back) freely.

‘On ICE!!!’ had gotten really popular now, and the talk about having it aired next year made Yuuri happy. He even helped with the storyboard, consulted every detail element of the story. The production studio even started to cast the voice actors for it.

“ _That guy who voiced that blue haired ganguro from that one basketball anime would be perfect to voice Alexei Romanov_ ,” Viktor commented over their daily video chat.

Yuuri, who was sitting behind his desk while working on his manuscript, stopped for a while as if he were considering the answer. “Hmm… he might be perfect, I guess?” Yuuri looked deep in thought. “I’m gonna put it on suggestion then,” Yuuri nodded and took a note.

“ _Thanks for the ‘On ICE!!!’ limited edition figurines, by the way. They’re perfect_ ,” Viktor laughed happily. From his seat, Yuuri could see that Viktor was stretching before his morning practice.

“Is it okay for you to be on the phone while stretching? Your coach will yell at you again,” Yuuri sighed.

“ _It’s fine, it’s fine. I planned on putting the final touch on my short program today_ ,” Viktor waved his hand dismissively.

“Short program? Aren’t you using the same short program as the one in GPF for Europeans?”

“ _Nah, I want to try something new. But Yakov told me if I wanted the three weeks vacation, I have to finish it today and return to St. Petersburg after, as soon as possible_ ,” Viktor smiled.

“A vacation… How nice…” Yuuri mumbled tiredly, while looking at his manuscript. “Where are you going this time? Hawaii? Switzerland?”

“ _Japan, actually_ ,” Viktor smiled.

Yuuri was speechless for a moment. “Really?” he frowned, half expecting Viktor to say, ‘Just kidding!’ to his face.

“ _Yup. The largest comiket in the world! And I planned on going this year. I even consulted with the guys from the forum about tips and tricks on going to a comiket_ ,” Viktor nodded proudly. “ _Besides, this time I want to meet Yuuri properly._ ”

“No, you just want a sneak peek at my latest manuscript,” Yuuri sighed. Viktor had been obsessed with asking Yuuri about what was happening in the next chapter of ‘On ICE!!!’. And Yuuri knew better than to let Viktor know and let him spoil it in his social media. Like how Yuuri suddenly became very popular and gained more followers in his social media accounts because Viktor posted a screenshot of their video chat on his Instagram, mentioning his name on the caption and told his adoring fans that this Katsuki “Katsudon-kun” Yuuri was the mangaka for that famous ice skating manga ‘On ICE!!!’.

And Yuuri never been happier when Nishigori asked for another color spread illustration because Yuuri seriously needed a distraction from his exploding notifications.

“ _That too… But I feel bad I never met Yuuri properly. I’m your biggest fan, you know_.”

Yuuri was flustered when he heard Viktor say that. Viktor was his childhood idol, Yuuri spent half of his life looking up to Viktor, even after he became a mangaka (How many hours had he spent re-watching Viktor’s video on his TV?). And to hear his hero tell him he was Yuuri’s biggest fan still made him flustered.

“ _Yuuri is really cute! I have to go now. Yakov keeps giving me the glare. Talk to you later, Yuuri_.”

With that the video chat ended. Yuuri sighed and laid his head down on the desk, mindful to not ruin his work. Viktor always managed to throw him off like that and it annoyed Yuuri sometimes. Viktor was already used to having fans adore him, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Yuuri told him he was Viktor’s biggest fan. Viktor knew that already, by how nervous he was the first time they had met.

“Sensei, where do you want to stack the finished pages?” Phichit asked, since the table they usually used was filled with custom made ‘On ICE!!!’ Matryoshka dolls Viktor sent to Yuuri as Christmas present.

“Put it on the coffee table for now,” Yuuri sighed.

“Why do you look so stressed, Sensei? Aren’t you happy Viktor is coming to visit you in Japan?” Phichit asked as he took a fully inked manuscript from Yuuri’s desk and brought it to his own for the background and effects to be added.

“Well, I am happy,” Yuuri sighed. “But I’m not sure how am I supposed to act when I meet him face-to-face,” Yuuri groaned, almost slipping his pen on the paper.

“Just act as usual? Yuuri always video chatted with Viktor, right? I don’t think you need to act differently,” said Yuko. The brunette stood up to refill the ink and realized they were running out of it. “Yuuri, we’re running out of ink.”

“And coffee…” Minako added, motioning to the empty coffee pot.

“I’ll go out and buy them,” Yuuri offered. “Just use this for now, Yu-chan,” Yuuri put his own bottle of ink on Yuko’s desk.

“Sensei, I’m coming with you!” Phichit said, he put on his jacket and followed Yuuri out of the studio.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri and Phichit walked side by side to the art store and convenience store. Phichit as usual, was busy fiddling with his phone; Yuuri swore he was addicted to it. Yuuri didn’t care much about social media like Phichit, though being friends with Viktor slightly pushed Yuuri out of his shell and tried to post more pictures on his social media. But rather than selfies, Yuuri chose the ‘artsy’ kind of posts.

Like that time he got a dramatic angle of his desk in the middle of the battle against deadline, with paper crushed into balls and the battered hands of Yuuri being the main focus. Yuuri thought it was nice, and Viktor even reposted it on his Instagram and tagged Yuuri, revealing to the world that katsudon-kun was actually the Katsuki Yuuri-sensei. And over night, he got more followers than he had in a month. Viktor only laughed when Yuuri complained to him about his newfound fans.

“ _Because I’m Yuuri’s biggest fan, and I want everyone to know how great Yuuri is and how hard Yuuri works for his manga_.”

With that being said, Yuuri was at a loss for words. Damn, Nikiforov. He always knew how to make Yuuri speechless, it wasn’t even fair.

“Sensei, do you know how many people agree that the voice actor of Aomine,  from that basketball anime would be perfect for Alexei?” Phichit asked. “He is very popular as a voice actor…”

“Hmm… Actually Viktor said the same thing too,” Yuuri nodded. “Well, it’s not my decision, but I have put some suggestions for the voice casting. Getting an anime is really hard work,” Yuuri sighed. “Do you think ‘On ICE!!!’ is good enough to be adapted as an anime, Phichit-kun?”

“Good enough? Sensei, ‘On ICE!!!’ might be the most popular sport manga on JUMP right now,” Phichit said. “No one could’ve guessed a manga about male figure skating would be this popular in Shounen JUMP, especially since Sensei refused to compromise about having a female heroine as the main character’s love interest. You sure took a hell of a gamble on that, I wonder why Nishigori-san let you keep going on with that.”

Yuuri laughed and rubbed the back of his head guiltily. “Actually, at first he tried to convince me to have a female character as the love interest for the main character,” Yuuri said. “But I don’t want to make a female character that the sole purpose of her is just to be an eye candy in my manga. Don’t you think it’ll be disrespectful to the character? And if I give her a major role, I don’t see how I can fit her into male figure skating, so I thought, ‘Hey, I wrote a sports manga, not romance. Not every sports manga needs romance,’ so I told Nishigori about this, but he didn’t agree. We ended up making a bet, if I could make ‘On ICE!!!’ keep the rank as top three most popular manga in JUMP before the second volume published, I could do whatever I wanted to. And I won the bet,” Yuuri laughed. “I can make ‘On ICE!!!’ the most popular manga without depending on cheap romance or panty-shots.”

Phichit was silent for a few seconds. “Sensei, do you realize how cool you were just now when saying something like that?”

“Ah, really?” Yuuri laughed nervously, before rubbing his head shyly. “But anyway, I’m glad the manga is doing well so far,” Yuuri smiled. “Though thinking about the anime adaptation still makes me nervous…”

“Don’t worry, Sensei, everything will be alright,” Phichit patted Yuuri’s shoulder. “By the way, when Viktor comes to visit, will he stay in the studio with you?”

“Huh? I don’t know… But getting a room at a hotel for three weeks seems really pricey, right? I have an extra bedroom, that you guys used for rest, right?” Yuuri tapped his chin. “Maybe I should just ask Viktor later.”

“Well, if he is indeed staying, you might want to consider hiding your Viktor Nikiforov Shrine,” Phichit reminded Yuuri. “For us it might be normal, but if someone else saw it, they might think you’re a stalker,” Phichit laughed heartily.

“Oh God, I forget about it…” Yuuri whimpered. “Maybe he should just get a hotel room…”

 

* * *

 

 

But fate was being cruel to Yuuri when Viktor called him on video chat that night.

“ _Yuuri! I can’t get a hotel room near the convention center…! Can I stay at your place?_ ” Viktor asked desperately.

The Fanboy God might hate him right now. And Yuuri had to find a way to hide his shrine. The problem was, after he became friends with Viktor, the shrine had grown exponentially. Seriously, Viktor would think he was a stalker if he ever saw that.

“ _Yuuri? Yuuri, are you even listening to me_?” Viktor whined over the phone.

“Ah, s-sorry. Sure, you can stay at my place. But my studio and living space are in the same apartment, so it might be a bit too cramped. I have spare bedroom you can use, but will that be really okay? I work odd hours sometimes, and it might bother your sleep…”

“ _Don’t worry, it’ll be fine! I want to see Yuuri’s work space anyway. You never really showed it to me. Only bits I can pick out from the background…_ ”

“Well, if it’s okay with you, you can stay at my place. How was practice? Have you finished with the choreography for your short program?” Yuuri asked curiously. “I can’t wait to see it…” Yuuri sighed dreamily without realizing he did it in front of Viktor.

Viktor laughed heartily. “ _I’ll show it to you as soon as we can get to the ice skating rink_ ,” Viktor winked at Yuuri.

“Really?!” Yuuri’s eyes sparkled in excitement. “I want to see! I want to see!” Yuuri smiled happily. “There is a privately owned rink not too far from my apartment building if you wanted to practice while you stay in Japan,” Yuuri informed him.

“ _Perfect! Your place is really amazing_!”

“One of the reasons I choose this building is because it’s near the skating rink,” Yuuri admitted. “So? When will you leave for Japan?”

“ _Tomorrow. I booked the earliest flight. By the way, does your apartment permit pets? I planned on bringing Makkachin along this time_ ,” Viktor said.

“Yeah, you can bring Makkachin here,” Yuuri smiled, knowing how attached Viktor was to his poodle.

“ _Okay then. So I guess, I’ll see you soon_?” Viktor smiled at Yuuri.

“I’ll see you soon, Viktor.”

“ _Can’t wait~_ ” Viktor nodded. “ _Bye, Yuuri_.”

“Bye,” Yuuri ended the video chat and smiled in excitement as he clutched his phone close. Now all he had to do was hide his stalker-ish shrine.

 


	5. Comiket and Exhibition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri went to Comiket and also a glimpse to Katsuki Yuuri's skating career...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos... They're making my day! So here's the fifth chapter of "Ink on Ice". This turned out to be longer than I thought, I already had chapter 9 written and it keeps going on and on... ^^;
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter~
> 
> Comments and kudos will be highly appreciated to boost up my mood ^_^
> 
> Edited: 12/7/2016

**Two years ago.**

The first thing Viktor did when he stepped into the arrival terminal of the airport, was find the dark mop of hair and nerdy glasses, owned by a man named Yuuri. He dragged the poor man to eat katsudon. “Come on, Yuuri! It’s to celebrate my fourth consecutive gold medals in Grand Prix Final!” Viktor said and pushed Yuuri into a taxi along with Makkachin and his suitcase.

And Yuuri never realized how affectionate Viktor could be. The taller Russian just had to touch Yuuri somehow, whether it was holding hands or casually slinging his arms on Yuuri’s shoulders, or simply hugging him and clinging onto Yuuri like a needy child. After a few hours trying to pry him off, Yuuri knew it was useless, so he just let Viktor do whatever he wanted, even though it sometimes resulted with weird stares from other people. Viktor didn’t seem to care.

“Kenjirou showed us this restaurant that served the tastiest katsudon ever,” Viktor told Yuuri excitedly. The silver haired skater told the driver about their destination. So they ate katsudon, bringing along Makkachin while dragging the large suitcase behind them. The restaurant owner asked them to leave Makkachin outside and promised Viktor one of his employee would keep an eye on her.

“I’m really happy I can finally meet Yuuri again, properly this time!” Viktor smiled brightly. “I should have done this the first time we met, but… Can I have your autograph?” Viktor asked.

“Wha… Why would you want my autograph?” Yuuri frowned and looked at Viktor in confusion.

“Because I never had one,” Viktor said simply. His eyes widened at the sight of the sparkly katsudon placed in front of him. Without further ado, he grabbed his chopsticks and began wolfing down his food. “Vkusnooo!”

Yuuri just laughed at Viktor’s reaction. It felt surreal for him, sitting here in front of his idol, eating katsudon in some random restaurant in Tokyo. Though Yuuri had to admit, the katsudon was really good, not as good as his mother’s, but Yuuri might be biased about that. They talked about how Viktor was doing, and Viktor told Yuuri the shenanigans that happened in his home rink, including the time Viktor told Yuri Plisetsky about how much similarity he had with Sergei Romanov from ‘On ICE!!!’.

“We need a selfie!” Viktor said out of the blue and pulled his phone out, setting it to camera. “Come on, Yuuri!” Viktor slung his arms around Yuuri’s shoulder and pulled him closer until their cheeks almost touched. Viktor winked at the camera while Yuuri blushed softly, before smiling shyly. They took a few more pictures before Viktor was satisfied. “I’ll post it on Instagram…” he mumbled and started to fiddle with his phone.

Of course, Viktor was an Instagram addict. Yuuri knew it so well just from how much Viktor updated in one day. Besides, Yuuri didn’t see the point on stopping him.

“I still have work to do this evening. So, if you want to go out tonight, I can ask Phichit to be your guide,” Yuuri offered. “I’ll go with you to Comiket tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Yuuri. But I think I’ll just rest up for tonight with jetlag and all. Besides, we’ll need a lot of energy for Comiket tomorrow! My online friends said we’re supposed to be there really early. Like at 06:30 in the morning,” Viktor nodded. “I hope it won’t be too packed with people…”

Yuuri looked at Viktor with a small smile on his face. “Viktor, have you ever been to a Comiket, before?” Yuuri asked.

“No, why?”

“Then you’ll be surprised,” Yuuri grinned.

“Should we cosplay?” Viktor wondered. “It will be cool. I can be Alexei and Yuuri can be Rin.”

As much as Yuuri wanted to see Viktor cosplay as the character from his manga, Yuuri knew better. “It won’t be practical if you want to walk around to buy doujinshi though,” Yuuri said.

“Then at least let’s wear the jacket? I bought these really nice Alexei’s jacket and Rin’s jacket… We can’t cosplay, but we still can play dress up as them, right?”

Viktor gave Yuuri the cutest puppy dog eyes, ones that a fully grown man as handsome as Viktor was, shouldn’t have.

Yuuri felt his resolve waver. “Fine,” he said in the end.

“Yeah!” Viktor threw a fist pump to the air and jumped from his seat. “You’re the best, Yuuri!” he leaned down and kissed Yuuri’s cheek, making the Japanese man blushed bright red and pass out on his seat.

 

* * *

 

Viktor raised up bright and early at five in the morning. He had a good night sleep at Yuuri’s amazing apartment. He snuggled up to Makkachin for a while and sighed happily. Yuuri’s apartment was bigger than he thought it would be, though it was a bit cramped with four large drawing tables arranged in one side of the room as a working space for Yuuri and his assistants, the other side was a living space, separated by several large shelves filled with manga, reference books, figurines, and Yuuri’s collection of Gundam Plastic Models. Viktor had met Yuuri’s assistants yesterday. Minako and Yuko were gushing, and asked for photos.

Viktor retired early last night while Yuuri said he still had some work to do. He wasn’t sure at what time Yuuri finally came to bed, but now he was awake. He decided to shower and walked Makkachin around for a while.

 He then put on his jacket and put the leash on Makkachin. He also left a note for Yuuri, saying he was going out for a while to walk Makkachin and left. The streets were still dark and empty this early in the morning, and Makkachin was still sleepy. Viktor enjoyed the walk, looking around the neighborhood. He found the skating rink Yuuri had mentioned yesterday and from there, he made his way back to the apartment.

He found Yuuri was half asleep on the couch, nursing a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Good morning, Yuuri,” Viktor smiled when he saw the mangaka started to doze off. Viktor swiftly took the cup away before Yuuri poured it all over himself when he accidentally fell asleep.

“Morning, Viktor,” Yuuri mumbled. “You’re so cheerful and bright this early in the morning…”

“Well, we should leave in half an hour. Have you showered?” Viktor asked. “I bought melon bread from the convenient store on my way home,” Viktor handed Yuuri a plastic bag with melon bread inside.

“Hmm… thanks…” Yuuri mumbled. Being a mangaka made him not a morning person. He could barely function this early.

“If you’re too tired, I can go by myself, Yuuri,” Viktor said.

 “No… no… I’m fine… I’ll be awake in an hour or so.”

Viktor just laughed and started to prepare everything he would need. He grabbed the jackets he promised Yuuri, he wore Alexei’s and put Yuuri in Rin’s jacket. Looking proud, he maneuvered Yuuri out of the apartment and walked to the bus station to get to the convention center.

When they arrived, they were already a long line of people outside. Viktor pulled Yuuri to join the line and made sure Yuuri stayed upright by looping his arms around Yuuri’s shoulder. This time he would get as many doujinshi as he could. And maybe some posters and art he liked too. Yuuri finally woke up and could stand on his own

“How many hours left before the gate opens?” Yuuri yawned and stretched.

“Two more hours,” Viktor said simply.

Yuuri nodded and shivered slightly from the cold morning. He forgot his gloves, Yuuri sighed as he stuffed his hands inside the pocket of his jacket to keep them warm.

“Oh, I forgot to put on your gloves, Yuuri,” Viktor said when he saw how cold Yuuri was. “Here, you can use mine,” he offered his left glove to Yuuri.

“But your hand will get cold…” Yuuri said, but Viktor had put the glove on Yuuri’s left hand before the mangaka could stop him.

“Don’t worry, we can always do this,” Viktor entwined their gloveless hands together and stuffed them inside Viktor’s jacket's pocket.

 “Wha—? V-Viktor…?!” Yuuri was too shocked to say anything and tried to pull his hand away, but Viktor was strong as he kept a tight grip around Yuuri’s hand, refusing to let go. “Viktor, this is embarrassing…” Yuuri whined.

“I’m gonna keep Yuuri’s precious hand warm,” he smiled gently, making Yuuri blushed bright red. Seriously, how can a guy say those lines so casually? If Yuuri put something as cheesy as that in his manga, Nishigori might ask him to do shoujo manga instead.

Then again, their situation right now looked like something out of shoujo manga. Viktor didn’t seem to mind as he kept talking to Yuuri about the doujinshi he read and his favorite circle. Yuuri’s brain had short-circuited a while ago trying to comprehend what Viktor was talking about.

This was still too early in the morning, damn it.

The line finally moved once the gate was open. Viktor was practically buzzing with excitement as he pulled Yuuri into the convention center and started his hunt for the new release of the doujinshi. Yuuri could feel the eyes on them, looking curiously. Yuuri blamed it on Viktor’s hair, which wasn’t subtle enough to blend in with his surroundings.

“You should put on a hat or a beanie,” Yuuri commented. “And those Gucci sunglasses really look out of place in this setting.”

“What? I’m blending in with everyone here,” Viktor proudly pointed out his Alexei’s jacket. “Oh! And there’s a whole row of ‘On ICE!!!’ doujinshi over there!”

They spent hours walking around the Comiket. The hard part was, most of the doujinka in ‘On ICE!!!’ fandom circles knew who Viktor Nikiforov was, with him being a world famous figure skater and gold medalist. It wasn’t the first time; they were stopped by a fan who asked for an autograph of a photo. Yuuri kindly became the photographer for the impromptu fan meeting, until a girl who sat in Alexei x Rin booth pointed out Yuuri.

“Aren’t you Katsuki Yuuri-sensei?” she asked.

Then it turned into chaos. Yuuri regretted having a social media account now. They were lucky the security team came in to save the day, and ushered Viktor and Yuuri out of the building in hopes to avoid further chaos. Viktor just laughed heartily and slung his arm around Yuuri.

“That was fun! We’re lucky we got all the new releases!” Viktor smiled. “Now, let’s take pictures with some cosplayers… Oh, look! Alexei and Rin!”

Yuuri decided if Viktor came to Japan again for Summer Comiket, he would let Phichit go with Viktor instead.

 

* * *

 

 

**Present.**

 

In the end, they didn’t have time to marathon the first season of ‘On ICE!!!’ because Viktor had to go to Moscow for the Grand Prix Final. Yuuri kept his promise and came all the way to Moscow so he could watch Viktor’s performance in GPF. He had come to Moscow a couple of times before to watch Viktor whenever he could get a few days off, but this time, Yuuri was determined to take more days off and finish up his deadline and future chapters faster.

As soon as he finished the manuscripts, he bought a plane ticket and packed his bags quickly before heading to the airport. He texted Nishigori and told him where he would be going this time. He texted Viktor and gave his fiancé his flight information and Viktor said he would pick Yuuri up at the airport. Yuuri could barely get any sleep in the 10 hour flight because the young mother with her 4 month old baby had a really small bladder and kept waking Yuuri up from his sleep to go to the bathroom. And her baby kept crying for hours, making Yuuri feel even more tired from his lack of sleep after the deadline.

He felt like a zombie once the plane landed and Yuuri went to get his suitcase. He must look really bad right now, bundled up in thick warm coat, with a white beanie. His skin was pale from lack exposure to the sun, the dark circles under his eyes became more prominent and he still hadn’t took off the compresses he put on his forehead, neck, and shoulders to ease the pain on his muscles. Under his warm mittens, there were more band-aids and warm compress patches on his wrists and arms. He was battered after five consecutive days with only two hours sleep for each to catch up with his works, and now he could barely walk straight while dragging his suitcase.

Yuuri walked slowly towards the airport gate, eyes searching for the familiar figure of Viktor Nikiforov. He sighed in relief when he saw the mop of silver hair not too far. He groaned when he realized Viktor was being surrounded by fans right then, all asking for photos or his autograph, and Viktor, being the gentleman he was, indulged them for a while.

Yuuri was hesitant to step closer, and he was too tired to deal with Viktor and his fans, so he waited until Viktor saw him.

“Yuuri!” Viktor called him and ran towards Yuuri once he saw the Japanese man stood with his backpack and suitcase. He simply left the crowd and swooped Yuuri into a bone crushing hug which made Yuuri yelp cutely when Viktor swirled him around. “Glad you can make it earlier this time,” Viktor smiled and kissed Yuuri’s nose gently.

“Yeah… I went to the airport as soon as Nishigori picked up the manuscript. Hopefully I can have more breaks this time,” Yuuri smiled.

“How was your flight? Did you get any sleep? You looked paler and a lot lighter than usual,” Viktor frowned in disapproval. “You shouldn’t push yourself like this; it’s not good for your health, Yuuri.”

“I could barely sleep on the plane because the passenger next to me had a bladder the size of a pea, and the baby kept crying loudly,” Yuuri mumbled. “It was awful.”

“You should’ve listened to me and flew first class,” Viktor helped Yuuri with his suitcase as they walked to find a taxi. “The ten hour flight is very long, and you’re exhausted.”

“I just want to rest,” Yuuri mumbled.

Viktor sighed at his stubborn fiancé. He could see the compress patch on Yuuri’s forehead under his beanie, and the dark shadow under his eyes. There was still a smudge of ink on Yuuri’s face, he must have missed it when he washed his face. Under his mittens, Viktor knew he would find more band-aids on Yuuri’s fingers and another compress patch on his wrists and arms. Seriously, Yuuri after his deadline was more battered than Viktor after hard and brutal practices for competitions.

Once they got a cab, Yuuri relaxed beside Viktor and rested his head on Viktor’s shoulder while the silver haired Russian gave the address of his hotel to the driver. Viktor watched Yuuri sleep beside him. He always looked adorable when sleeping like this, and Viktor couldn’t wait until the time came and he could take care of Yuuri every day for the rest of his life.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two years ago.**

 

“Viktor, let’s go to the ice skating rink,” Yuuri said one day in the morning while making a cup of coffee for himself and breakfast for the two of them. He might not be the best cook, but he was decent enough since his parents owned an inn.

Viktor was just returned from walking Makkachin and now he was brushing the poodle’s hair gently in the living room.

“Hm? Don’t you have work today?” Viktor asked.

 “I finished the manuscript earlier than I thought. Come on, you promised me you’ll show me your short program choreography,” Yuuri gave his cutest puppy dog eyes, that would make anyone dropped to their knees.

Viktor laughed. “Sure. But don’t you think a public skating rink would be too crowded for figure skating practice?” Viktor asked Yuuri. 

“Don’t worry. Celestino will let us use his facility for free,” Yuuri smiled. “Let’s eat breakfast for now and we can walk to the skating rink after.”

They sat around the breakfast table, and Viktor really enjoyed his Japanese style breakfast. Yuuri was blushing when Viktor kept saying, ‘Vkusnooo!’ with a blissful smile on his face. After they were done, Yuuri cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. Viktor went to get his skates and waited for Yuuri. Yuuri joined him, carrying the backpack where he put his skates in.

“Yuuri will skate too?” Viktor asked curiously.

“Hm? Of course,” Yuuri laughed. “I was Japan’s most promising figure skater before I was forced for early retirement, you know.”

“Really?” Viktor looked genuinely surprised as they made their way to the skating rink.

“Yup. Let’s run to the rink then as warm up,” Yuuri laughed and started to run while Viktor followed after him with curiosity in his face.

It only took them fifteen minutes to get to the rink. In front of the rink, there was a tall Italian man with ponytail already waiting. The man smiled once he saw Yuuri and Viktor.

“Yuuri! You did tell the truth about Viktor Nikiforov being in Japan!” the man said in Japanese, but his Italian accent was still thick in his voice.

“Ciao ciao, Celestino. Let me introduce you, Celestino, as you already know, this is Viktor Nikiforov. Viktor, this is Celestino Cialdini. He used to be my coach,” Yuuri introduced them to each other. Viktor shook Celestino’s hand and nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you, Celestino,” Viktor said in Japanese.

“Same goes to you,” Celestino nodded. “You can use the rink for today, Yuuri. Here’s the key. Make sure you clean up after, okay?” Celestino put the front door key in Yuuri’s hand. “I have an appointment today, so I’ll see you later.”

With that, Celestino got into his expensive Italian car and drove off, leaving Viktor and Yuuri. They entered the rink and stretched for a while before putting on their skates.

“You really have a nice connection to be able to use the skating rink as much as you want,” Viktor commented as he stepped on to the ice.

“Hmm… this rink is not open for public. Usually it was only used for the Ice Castle Skating Club, so only members can use it. Celestino is the owner and coach of the club,” Yuuri explained to Viktor. He watched Viktor gliding on the ice gracefully. “I was a member of the Club and started off my career as a figure skater before my injuries.”

“Injuries?” Viktor raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah. Car accident. I lost my poodle and had to end my career as a competitive figure skater because of that. The police said it was hit and run, and they never caught the driver,” Yuuri shrugged and leaned to the barrier to watch Viktor move on ice. “If it wasn’t for my injuries, I might have been able to compete on the same ice as you, you know,” Yuuri grinned.

Viktor laughed and looked at Yuuri. “Well, aren’t you going to set foot on the ice then?” he asked.

“About that…” Yuuri said slowly and looked down. “I’ve been wondering, Viktor, do you really have time to play around at this time of the year? Isn’t the European Championship in January?”

Viktor stopped as he turned his gaze away from Yuuri and looked at anything but the dark haired man standing on the side of the rink.

“Viktor?”

Yuuri sighed and rested his chin on his palm while leaning on the barrier. “You’re lying about Yakov giving you a vacation, right?”

Yuuri didn’t have to look up to see Viktor flinch. “I have been wondering, even since you called me saying that you have three weeks’ vacation after the Grand Prix Final. It has been three days since you arrived, but I kept holding myself from asking it.”

Viktor didn’t say anything. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the ice, and he was still avoiding Yuuri’s gaze. Yuuri bit his lip before he steeled his resolve.

“Why are you coming here at this time of the year? Why are you lying to me?” Yuuri asked, he could hear his voice become shaky. He didn’t look at Viktor anymore. The smooth sound of blades cutting the ice made Yuuri look up until his gaze found Viktor who stood in front of him, with the barrier separating them.

“Yuuri can easily read through me even though we’ve only known each other for a bit over a month,” Viktor let out a small chuckle.

“Well, are you going to answer my question?” Yuuri asked, he didn’t mean for it to sound that sharp.

“Actually,” Viktor mumbled, before leaning closer to Yuuri, “I think I’m in a slump,” he said slowly. “After the gold medal in Grand Prix Final, I feel disappointed with my performance, especially the free skate program. And thinking about the European Championship and the World, I think I feel like… I’m not in the mood? Uninspired?”  Viktor sighed. “I don’t want to look this pathetic in front of Yuuri, since Yuuri said he's my fan and all that. Then I remembered reading Yuuri’s manga always kept my spirit up, so I thought, why don’t I go and visit Yuuri to get my inspiration back?”

Yuuri didn’t say anything, he just listened to Viktor.

“I’m really sorry, Yuuri. I don’t want to look lame in front of you, so I was lying and said I’m here for vacation instead. You must be really disappointed in me now. I was supposed to be Yuuri’s hero, right?”

Viktor didn’t know why he suddenly told Yuuri everything. One look from Yuuri, and Viktor could feel his defense was crumbling and before he knew it, he started to tell Yuuri everything. He wasn’t sure what was it about Yuuri that made him felt like he could tell the mangaka everything. It scared him, but at the same time he felt relief to get everything out of his chest.

“Viktor is really lame,” Yuuri said bluntly. “Right now, Viktor is really lame, uncool, and stupid,” Yuuri took of the guards on his skates and stepped on to the ice and glided over to Viktor until they were close enough to each other. “If you get in a slump just because you thought your gold winning performance in Grand Prix Final sucked, then you should just do it better in European Championship and World Championship,” Yuuri took of his glasses and put them on the barrier. “You’re here not because you thought I could inspire you. Viktor is being a coward and running away right now, thinking you can use me as a reason to get away from your slump,” Yuuri took a deep breath and slicked back his hair.

Viktor blinked, noticing a different Yuuri standing in front of him. The Yuuri he always knew was shy and easily flustered. But this Yuuri was different. There was an air of confidence around him and Viktor couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“Watch me,” Yuuri said as he skated to the center of the ice. Viktor stepped out from the arena and watched Yuuri from behind the barrier. He was confused as to what Yuuri was going to do.

Viktor watched Yuuri get into position, and he let out a soft gasp when he saw the Japanese male move. He knew those opening moves very well. It took him months to come up with the perfect choreography for that song. Viktor’s eyes followed each movement carefully. Yuuri changed all the quads and triples into doubles and singles; along with some combinations because Viktor knew Yuuri’s injuries forbid him to land any of the quads or triples. There was no music playing, but Viktor could hear it clearly from each precise movements of Yuuri. His moves created music. Emotion, passion… Viktor could feel everything in the core of his body. Without words, without music, Yuuri was speaking to him.

This was what he missing.

Viktor watched Yuuri enter the last combination spin smoothly before he stopped with the very familiar pose. Viktor’s heart was pounding hard when he saw Yuuri panting softly, face flushed and covered in sweat after the performance. He turned and smiled at Viktor, giving him a graceful bow.

“That was my rendition of Viktor Nikiforov’s free skate program, ‘Stay Close to Me’,” Yuuri said, and laughed shyly as he glided back to the side of the rink. “I can’t land any quads or triples, so I modified it a bit…”

“That was perfect…” Viktor said quietly. “That was perfect, Yuuri!” he pulled Yuuri into his arms and held him close, clinging as if Yuuri was his lifeline.

“Well, I am Viktor’s biggest fan,” Yuuri patted the silver hair gently. “If I can do something like this, you can do it better. Viktor is my hero after all…”

Viktor didn’t say anything but clung onto Yuuri in silent.

“Feeling inspired, yet?” Yuuri asked. He didn’t need Viktor’s answer, because he already knew it. Never before Yuuri thought he could do something like this, but here he was, standing on his skates while his idol Viktor Nikiforov was holding onto him.

The next day, Yuuri drove Viktor off to the airport for the earliest flight back to St. Petersburg. They didn’t say anything, but deep in his heart, Viktor made a promise he would win the gold medal in the European Championship and World Championship for Yuuri.

Yuuri was his biggest fan, and Viktor wanted to make him proud.

 


	6. 'On ICE!!!' and 'Stay Close to Me'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katsuki Yuuri got a new fan and mused about his life so far...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the 6th chapter and the newest episode is so awesome I'm rolling around like an over-sized sushi roll...
> 
> I moved around the timeline a bit in chapter 1, so instead of being engaged for a year, Yuuri and Viktor have been engaged for six months, and the story started a bit over three years ago.
> 
> My beta and I are doing our best, but some details might pass us, so if you guys find anything weird and doesn't match, feel free to point it out to me! Thanks, Mell, for being the beta for this~!

**Present Day**

 

He felt bad when he had to wake Yuuri up, once their taxi arrived at the Star Hotel where Viktor would stay during the Grand Prix Final. But he couldn’t carry Yuuri and his backpack while dragging the suitcase, either. So he gently woke Yuuri up from his slumber, and paid the driver his fair. Yuuri was wobbling sleepily on his feet as Viktor gently led him into the hotel.

They got into an empty elevator that brought them up to the third floor, where Viktor’s room was. Yuuri had rested his head on Viktor’s shoulder while the taller Russian held him gently to keep him upright. The elevator bell dinged, indicating they had arrived at the intended floor and Viktor led Yuuri towards his room. They stood in front of Viktor’s room, when the silver haired Russian realized something.

“Oh, no. Yuuri, I forgot to get the room key from the receptionist,” he whispered apologetically. “I’m going back down to get it, you can wait here, okay?” He felt bad leaving Yuuri alone right now, but he felt even worse if he had to drag his tired fiancé back to the lobby.

Yuuri nodded and leaned onto the wall. “Okay,” he mumbled.

Viktor kissed his forehead gently, before running quickly back to the lobby, as fast as his legs could carry him. He asked for the key card and ran back to the elevator. He greeted Jean-Jaques Leroy who was heading upstairs as well, exchanged a few words before he dashed back to his room where he found Yuuri, still standing there with Christophe and Yuri.

“What are you two doing here?” Viktor asked.

 “Stopping this pervert from molesting piggy,” Yuri said while he glared viciously at Chris.

“Hey, I wasn’t molesting Yuuri. I was just talking to him and ask why he was standing here alone and offered my room where he could rest while waiting!” Chris said in his defense.

“Yeah, right,” Yuri hissed.

“It’s Viktor’s fault for leaving his cute little fiancé here alone and defenseless,” Chris teased with a naughty smirk on his face. Viktor already become used to Chris’ antics and just wrote it off as Chris being Chris. He still remembered though, how he almost broke Chris’ fingers when the flirty pervert skater from Switzerland touched Yuuri’s butt for ‘luck’. After that accident, Chris had been careful with flirting with Yuuri. Chris could stare, talk, flirt all he wanted (because Viktor knew Yuuri never cared about Chris’ flirtation attempts), but no touching. Viktor was very territorial about the ones he loved. Especially if that one was Yuuri.

“Well, since I’m here, I will let Yuuri rest for now in _my_ room,” Viktor smiled and opened the door. He ushered Yuuri inside, ignoring Yuri’s eye-roll or the air kiss from Chris. Viktor took off Yuuri’s coat and, hanging it in the closet, leaving Yuuri only in his T-shirt and jeans. Viktor helped Yuuri change into something more comfortable, sighing when he saw the many band-aids and compress patches there were on Yuuri’s body. He kissed his tired fiancé gently and tucked him in, letting Yuuri rest as much as he needed.

* * *

 

**Two years ago.**

 

“Sensei, I heard about it on the news… Viktor won the World Championship with a very wide margin and even broke the record,” Phichit said as he finished up the effect on Yuuri’s manuscript. “I didn’t watch it live, did you record it, Sensei?” Phichit asked. “I heard it was awesome.”

Yuuri laughed when he remembered watching it live on TV, while bundled up on the couch. He remembered Viktor calling Yuuri before his free skate program, not a video chat, but only a voice call. Viktor was asking if Yuuri watched it, and  Yuuri gave his confirmation.

_“Yuuri,”_ Viktor was saying over that call. “ _Watch me._ ”

Yuuri blushed bright red when the call ended. It was the perfect rendition of what Yuuri said in that empty ice skating rink weeks ago. Yuuri’s eyes were glued to the TV when he watched Viktor enter the ice smoothly and take his position. And the soft melody of ‘Stay Close to Me’ played, Viktor started to move along to the music. Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat. It was the best performance of Viktor he had ever seen, and Yuuri was crying at the end of the performance. Afterward, Viktor called again, this time it was a video chat and he was wearing his gold medal.

“Sensei…? Sensei, are you okay…?”Phichit’s voice snapped him back to reality and found Phichit, waving his hands in front of him. Yuuri was spacing out. “Sensei? Are you sick?” Phichit asked, looking worried.

“I’m fine… I’m fine…” Yuuri blinked and quickly returned to his manuscript.

 “Hmmm…” Phichit looked deep in thought. “Sensei, I heard they are finally done with the castings for the anime?”

“Oh, yeah… Nishigori told me a few days ago. The script and storyboards are almost done too, and they’re still composing the music for the skating scene,” Yuuri nodded. “I can’t believe they got Suwabe-san as the voice actor for Alexei. I like him in that basketball anime…”

“Well, with the anime adaptation so close now, I heard Takeshi say we can have an ‘On ICE!!!’ event next month,” Yuko said brightly. “The higher ups had been planning it since the manga is getting more and more popular lately, as expected from Viktor who keeps mentioning it on his SNS page.”

“Yeah. Nishigori said it will be officially translated into several languages,” Yuuri laughed. “Somehow it sounds like a dream…”

The mood lightened up as the mangaka and his assistants continued with their work again. Yuuri couldn’t help but smile in excitement. If  Viktor could won the gold medal, Yuuri had to work harder and aim higher!

 

* * *

 

“You’re creepy,” Yuri Plisetsky commented when he watched Viktor, who kept smiling during practice. “Stop smiling stupidly like that,” Yuri frowned.

“Why?” Viktor turned; his smile only grew even wider. “I’m so happy right now, you won’t believe what I saw on my way to practice today…” Viktor let out a creepy laughed which made Yuri shudder. “Look at this, Yura~” he pulled out a book out of nowhere and showed it to Yuri.

Yuri frowned when he saw a familiar looking book and read the title. “Hah? Isn’t it that comic book you’re always spouting about on your SNS page?” Yuri scoffed.

“Don’t call it a comic book, Yura. It’s manga! And this is the best manga in the world!” Viktor said proudly. “And look at this! This is the Russian translated version!” Viktor showed it to Yuri. “Now everyone can read how wonderful this manga is…!”

Yuri clicked his tongue and left Viktor, who was still gushing on and on about his manga. Yuri never understood what was so good about it anyway. He was never interested in reading things like that, even though he always saw Viktor, who had his nose buried behind those types of books. Yuri even saw the horrendous body pillow with that anime character that resided on Viktor’s couch in his apartment last time he came for visit.

What was so good about it?

The practice went on as usual. One by one, the other skaters left until Yuri was the last one in the rink. He decided to leave, eventually, and headed out for a shower. His mind was filled with his plans for his senior debut this year. Viktor had promised him he would choreograph his senior debut programs, but apparently he forgot. He dried off his hair and headed to the locker room. He blinked when he saw that cursed book sitting innocently on the bench.

Viktor’s manga…? Yuri  picked up the book curiously and looked over it.

“’On ICE!!!’,” he read the title. “Why does it need three exclamation marks?” Yuri wondered. He wondered why Viktor was so infatuated by this book. “Yuuri… Katsuki?” Yuri read the name of the author. Damn, he had the same name as himself! Yuri scowled. He put down the manga and huffed. It was just a stupid book!

His eyes landed on the manga again. Well, he could read it a bit… just a sneak peek. And the manga was about figure skating too, he could call it as studying a reference book, right…? Just a little bit…

Yuri picked up the manga and started to read.

And read.

And read.

And finished it.

He closed the manga and quickly put it back down when the locker room’s door burst open. Viktor walked in quickly and looked at Yuri.

“Yura? You haven’t gone home yet?” Viktor asked. “I left my manga here, so I came to pick it up…” Viktor started to rummage the locker until he saw the said manga was lying down innocently beside Yuri.

“There it is! Yura, why didn’t you tell me it was here the whole time?” Viktor laughed and put the manga inside his bag. He turned around, ready to leave.

“Hey, Viktor,” Yuri said slowly. “That fucking manga…”

“Hm? What about it?” Viktor asked, looking back at Yuri.

“Lend me the next volume!!!” Yuri shouted.

“Sure!” Viktor cheered and smiled.

 

* * *

 

“Vitya, what are you doing to Yura…?” Mila Babicheva asked Viktor, the next day when she found Yuri inside the locker room, reading a book called, ‘Learning Japanese in 30 Days’ while carrying an electronic dictionary around.

“Huh? Oh, Yura read my manga yesterday and asked me to lend him the second volume,” Viktor explained to Mila. “Unfortunately, the second volume hasn’t yet been translated into Russian, thus Yura decided to learn Japanese so he could read it.”

Mila frowned with fear. “Just… what kind of power does that manga have to make people learn a new language just they could read it…?”

“Hmmm… the power of love…?” Viktor laughed and skated on the ice to start his practice.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri smiled when he opened  Instagram and saw Viktor just posted a new picture of Yuri Plisetsky sitting on a bench with an electronic dictionary in one hand and the second volume of  the ‘On ICE!!!’ manga on the other hand.

 

> You got a new fan, @katsudon-kun! @yuri-plisetsky really loves your #manga
> 
> #katsukiyuuri #yuriplisetsky #OnICE!!!
> 
>  

Yuuri liked the picture and browsed through his page for a while, before he put his phone down. He still couldn’t believe how his life turned out to be. After losing Vicchan and being told that he no longer could do figure skating competitively, Yuuri would never have imagined his life would turn into this.  He still remembered how depressed he got when figure skating couldn’t be his escape from the loss of his poodle. Yuuri knew he always struggled to interact socially. His friend was only Vicchan, a poodle his parents gave to him when Yuuri read in the magazine that Viktor owned a poodle. Vicchan meant everything to Yuuri. When the accident happened, not only he lost his only friend, but also his only connection to his idol.

It was hard. Yuuri had been praised as the next star of Japan’s male figure skating. He was prepared to take on the world once he graduated high school. Yuuri had been counting the days until he finally could compete on the same ice as Viktor Nikiforov. Until his dream was crushed to pieces.

It took him a year until he could walk normally again, and another year until he could skate again. Yet, he would never be able to land any quads or triples. Even singles and doubles would be a huge burden to his legs if he tried to practice as often as he used to. So, Yuuri turned away from figure skating and started to draw just for fun, to take his mind off skating.

And he enjoyed it. His sister said Yuuri should try to make manga, so Yuuri did. His first manuscript got rejected so he tried again and again. His manga won Tezuka Awards, soon he started his debut at Akamaru JUMP with figure skating manga, and then got serialized.

And through this manga, Yuuri met his lifetime idol and even became friends. Never in his wildest dreams, 12 years old Katsuki Yuuri would think he could befriend Viktor. Compete, maybe, but never as a friend on equal footing.  And hearing Viktor telling him he was his biggest fan and had video chatted almost every day.

Yuuri smiled as he hummed a familiar tune that kept playing in his head since the day he and Viktor skated together in Celestino’s Ice Castle. ‘Stay Close to Me’. The look on Viktor’s face after Yuuri finished that program was priceless. Yuuri didn’t tell him about the throbbing pain he felt afterward, when they walked back to the apartment.

But it was worth it, Yuuri curled on his bed, watching his Viktor Nikiforov shrine in the corner of his room. It was worth it.

Yuuri’s  phone buzzed and he picked it up.

“Hello, Viktor,” he greeted.

“ _Yuuri! You won’t believe what just happened today…_ ” Viktor started to ramble while Yuuri listened to him.

Maybe he had to take a bit of a detour in his life, but Yuuri was grateful about the scenery he found in front of him right now.

 


	7. Manga and Program

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov went to Japan again for some vacation time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're at the lucky number 7! This is the 7th chapter, and thank you for all your comments, supports, and kudos for this fic! I'm so happy, and keep smiling reading all the comments and replying them^^ Keep them coming, guys! XD
> 
> Thanks for my sweet beta for working so hard on this...! \\(^^)/

**Two years ago.**

 

Viktor came all the way to Japan for the ‘On ICE!!!’ event, saying he couldn’t miss it. He promised Yuuri that this time he came with permission from Yakov. Yuuri laughed and said he trusted Viktor, and Viktor had never been happier. Yakov let him off for two weeks as a reward for his outstanding performance during the World Championship. Yuuri was proud, but chastised Viktor in a teasing manner for beating Japan’s representative, Minami Kenjirou.

Just like before, Yuuri came to pick Viktor up from the airport. His eyes were looking for the familiar mop of silver hair as he waited. He found Viktor, who was waving at him, he was wearing the fancy Gucci sunglasses and coat that was probably more expensive than Yuuri’s monthly income. Seriously, Yuuri realized just how high maintenance Viktor could be.

“Yuuri!” Viktor called him and waved. He pulled his suitcase closer to Yuuri, who was smiling and at him and waving back. They met halfway, and Viktor hugged Yuuri tightly. “I missed you,” he sighed softly.

“I missed you too, Viktor,” Yuuri laughed. “How was your flight?”

“Comfortable,” Viktor nodded.

“Congratulations for winning the World Championship,” Yuuri patted Viktor’s shoulder proudly. “I watched your performance, it was... stunning. It was beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Viktor gave him a stupid grin. Viktor was still clinging onto Yuuri happily. “Hm? Yuuri? You seem thinner than the last time I was here?” he frowned slightly. He carefully studied Yuuri’s face and saw the dark rings under Yuuri’s eyes. “You look paler too… and are those dark rings under your eyes? Yuuri, do you sleep properly?”

“Ah… I pulled an all-nighter these past few days so I can have a week off since you’re here,” Yuuri rubbed the back of his head nervously. “The rest are just for Phichit and the others to work on. I’m fine, really,” Yuuri smiled.

Viktor sighed and patted Yuuri’s head gently. “You shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“I want to, and you can’t stop me,” Yuuri yawned. “Besides, if I had a week off, we can enjoy a Japanese vacation. We can tour Tokyo, or even go to Kyoto or Osaka,” Yuuri nodded. “Do you want to grab a bite first before we go to my place?”

“No. We should go back to your place first and put you back in bed. You look like zombie.”

“But I don’t have anything to eat at my place…”

“We’ll call that ramen place near the skating rink,” Viktor said. “Sleep first.”

Yuuri just nodded and hailed a taxi. They got in while Yuuri gave his address to the driver.

“So, Yuuri, are you excited about the event?” Viktor asked Yuuri in excitement.

“Yup. Nishigori said it is also for fan meetings and such. And also a manga workshop, and other stuff, I’m not sure. I’ll be there for the fan meeting and morning session of the workshop, so I won’t be able to be with you all the time.”

Viktor laughed. “Don’t worry, I planned on getting you to  sign my Alexei jacket at the event,” Viktor nodded.

“Oh no… If you showed up in a flashy way like that, you might hold your own fan meeting in the ‘On ICE!!!’ event…!” Yuuri groaned. “No one will want my autograph!” he let out an overly dramatic whine.

“Yuuri, I came all the way from Russia just I so I can attend the ‘On ICE!!!’ event! I wasn’t here when that doujinshi event was held last month because of the World Championship! Imagine how many newly released doujinshi I missed!”

Yuuri sighed, and patted Viktor’s shoulder. “Don’t lie, Viktor. I know you made Phichit-kun go to the doujinshi event and buy all the new AleRin doujinshi and send them to you,” Yuuri said.

“How did you find out?” Viktor asked.

“He stupidly posted a picture of him posing with American and Chinese cosplayers with the banner of the ‘On ICE!!! Dancing on the Blades Event’ shown in the background. Phichit-kun doesn’t usually attend such events, and since it was a doujinshi event, I figured you must have asked him. And Phichit-kun confirmed.”

Viktor blinked and looked at Yuuri with wide-eyed amazement.

“I never knew you were that smart, Yuuri.”

“I feel insulted now, Viktor.”

 

* * *

 

**Present**

 

Viktor Nikiforov had a secret hobby.

And it wasn’t reading BL doujinshi. The fact he liked reading BL doujinshi wasn’t a secret at all, since Viktor was often seen in Comiket, proudly announcing that he wanted all the new releases of AleRin doujinshi from every circle. Viktor was proud being the first open fudanshi professional figure skater as much as he was proud being a four consecutive gold medalist in figure skating.

No, this secret hobby was so secret, no one knew it except for Phichit Chulanont and an Italian Coach named Celestino Cialdini. He always did it in secret, without the knowledge of his cute, dear fiancé. Yuuri was asleep on the bed, curling up so innocently, Viktor wanted to just snuggle up to him. But he had a competition tomorrow, and tonight was the only time he could enjoy his secret hobby.

Viktor pulled out his phone and plugged in the earphones, making sure no sound would escape. He leaned back against the headboard, next to Yuuri’s sleeping figure while his hands tapped the screen. And brought out an old video.

In the video was a young man, in his teenage years, looking all shy as he skated on the ice until he got into his position. A soft piano intro played gently while the dark haired teenager started to move, looking lonely and solemn at first as the music picked up, slowly building up and letting the string join in. Viktor watched the emotion change into something hopeful. The innocent passion and love for the ice. The teenager moved as if he was born to dance on the ice. Graceful, beautiful. The music entered the climax, and this time, Viktor could see the determination to reach to his dream, each movement and each jump was executed perfectly, making Viktor unable to take his eyes off of him, until the song ended with the skater’s hand reaching up to something of his dream, unreachable, yet the determination still in his pose made Viktor's heart cheer for him to reach it.

It was beautiful, Viktor smiled as he played the video again and again and again, until his battery was red and Viktor reached out for his charger. He closed the video file where the title of video could be seen.

_Yuuri Katsuki,  Last Performance Junior Grand Prix Series FS Program,  “Yuuri on Ice”_

Viktor had asked Celestino, who was Yuuri’s old coach when the mangaka was still active as Japan’s top figure skater, for a video of Yuuri’s old routine. After Viktor watched Yuuri skate his FS program ‘Stay Close to Me’, all Viktor wanted to do was watch him on the ice again. But the large scar on Yuuri’s knee was the final seal that shown him it would be impossible. Katsuki Yuuri was caught in the accident after he won his gold medal in Tokyo, just a year before he would start his senior debut.

After Yuuri retired, no one ever heard of his name again. Why would they, when new stars aroused, the old ones were forgotten. Viktor glanced at his sleeping fiancé and smiled, his hand tentatively slipped into Yuuri’s perfectly.

“My beautiful Yuuri,” Viktor whispered softly. Yuuri didn’t move, still deeply asleep. “Do you think in some other timeline, we met each other differently? Like, maybe we met each other in the Grand Prix Final just like Alexei and Rin did in your manga… But I don’t think I would be as stupid as Alexei for not recognizing his fellow competitor like in the manga. I think I’ll immediately recognize you,” Viktor whispered softly and kissed Yuuri’s fingers. “Or maybe, Yuuri would be in a slump like Rin was in the manga, and I’ll come to your family’s onsen in Hassetsu and tell you I’ll become your coach. Maybe I’ll be buck-naked when I said that, it would have a bigger impact, don’t you think?” Viktor chuckled when he imagined it. “But it doesn’t matter, Yuuri. As long as I’ll be with you in the end, I don’t care which road we have to take. My journey will always end with you.”

Viktor watched Yuuri curling beside him, clutching Viktor’s hand tightly. Yuuri was the epitome of beauty and strength in his eyes. He had his world taken away from him when he was young; barely got a taste of his dream, yet in the end he stood tall. For Viktor Nikiforov, Yuuri was his savior, his anchor in life. Viktor had forgotten how his life was before Yuuri. It didn’t matter anymore.

Viktor had Yuuri.

And Yuuri had Viktor.

“Together, we can take the world…” Viktor kissed his forehead lovingly.

 

* * *

 

**Two years ago.**

 

Yuuri’s hands hurt after signing so many things. And some of the fans asked for him to draw something on their boards with the autograph. Now he could barely move his fingers after the fan meeting session was done. So far, the ‘On ICE!!!’ event was a success, and the officials told him all he had to do now was just stick around until the afternoon session of manga workshop started. Phichit, being the precious best friend and assistant he was, put on the cold compress patch to Yuuri’s wrist to ease the pain.

“Yuuri! There you are!” the accented voice made Yuuri look up at Viktor, who had just stepped into the break room Yuuri had used to rest for a while. “You wouldn’t believe what I found walking around this place!”

“Viktor…?” Yuuri frowned when he sensed something fishy about the way Viktor just peeked from the door. His frown deepened when he heard a voice he didn’t recognize said something to Viktor. No… not exactly ‘said’ something, more like ‘yelled’ something. Viktor just laughed and opened the door fully while pulling a reluctant someone.

And the first thought that entered Yuuri’s mind was, _what a beautiful boy!_ Until another thought hit him in the face. Wait… it’s Yuri Plisetsky!

Yuri Plisetsky was frowning in annoyance and glared daggers at Viktor. Wait. What was Yuri Plisetsky doing here? In the ‘On ICE!!!’ event? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Russia and training? Yuuri studied the blond figure skater in front of him. Yuri Plisetsky would start his senior debut this year, Yuuri’s mind supplied the information he just read on the internet.

Still didn’t help explaining why he was here.

“Yuuri, this is my junior, Yuri Plisetsky. Yura, this is my friend, the mangaka that wrote ‘On ICE!!!’ that you love so much,” Viktor introduced them to each other.

Yuuri blinked. Did he hear that right? There was another professional figure skater that read his manga? He knew Viktor tweeted a lot about the manga on his Twitter, and Yuuri knew Viktor’s fans would probably read them now since it had been translated to other languages, because fans loved doing things their idol did (and Yuuri knew it so well, since he had Vicchan because Viktor owned a poodle), but to have another famous figure skater read it?

“Oh? Your name is also Yuri?” Phichit asked with a bright smile on his face. “Hmm… that would be hard to distinguish you both, so… Yuri Plisetsky can be Yurio!” he said in English with a proud grin on his face.

“HUH?! Don’t change people’s name as you want!” Yuri Plisetsky—now Yurio—shouted angrily.

“Nice to meet you, Yurio,” Yuuri said in slightly accented English with a bright smile on his face. He waved his hand happily.

“Japanese is fine. I’m still learning,” Yurio said and looked away, avoiding Yuuri’s eyes.

“Oh, I see…” Yuuri nodded.

“Yuuri, what happened to your hands…?!” Viktor gasped and took Yuuri’s hand gently in his. “Are you hurt?”

“Hmm, just signing and drawing too many quick sketches of Alexei, Rin, and Sergei, my wrist a bit sore. I’ve put cold compress patch on it, so it will be okay,” Yuuri laughed.

“They should’ve made a rule about just signing only and no sketches,” Viktor huffed, still holding Yuuri’s hand as if it would make it better.

“Yurio will be staying in Japan as well?” Yuuri asked the younger skater curiously.

“No. I’m going back to St. Petersburg this evening,” Yurio mumbled. “And my name is not Yurio!” he shouted it louder.

“You see, Yuuri, when Yurio heard there will be an ‘On ICE!!!’ event in Japan, Yurio jumped on the plane and flew here just to attend! Yurio is also a big fan of you, Yuuri. He read my copy of the manga in Russian and soon asked me to lend him the rest of the manga! He even learned a bit of Japanese and used my electronic dictionary to read them, isn’t he so cute?”

“Stop spouting that nonsense, airhead!” Yurio shouted at Viktor, his face was blushing bright red. Viktor should just shut up about it, and Yurio cursed himself to just jump on the next flight to Tokyo without thinking. He forgot that Viktor was also in Japan, and Katsuki Yuuri was Viktor’s friend. He just wanted to meet the man who wrote that manga he liked so much, that he learned a new language with complicated characters just to read it.

Yuuri’s eyes widened when he heard Yurio came to Japan just because of the event. He never knew someone could actually do that (well, Viktor could, but his impulsiveness didn’t count), and he felt his heart clench and become warm at the same time. “T-Thank you so much… Yurio…” Yuuri managed to say before he started to get all teary from the feeling in his chest.

“S-Sensei…?!”

“Yuuri…?!”

Yurio flinched when out of nowhere, Yuuri bawled his eyes out in happy sobs. “Thank you so much, Yurio…!”

It took two small cartons of strawberry milk to make Yuuri finally calm down, and another ten minutes to coax Yuuri to let Yurio of his embrace.

Viktor couldn’t stop himself from feeling jealous about that.

 

* * *

 

They ended up accompanying Yurio to the airport after Yuuri’s afternoon panel on the manga workshop was finished. Phichit had left as soon as the workshop finished because of his project as an art student, leaving Viktor, Yuuri, and Yurio to hail a taxi to go to the airport.

“We still have three hours before Yurio’s flight. How about we eat katsudon? Yurio has never tried katsudon before, right?” Viktor asked.

“I’m fine,” Yurio mumbled.

“Nonsense. You should definitely try it,” Viktor gave their destination to the driver. Yuuri laughed when Yurio objected to the idea and Viktor just ignored his protests with a stupid smile on his face. It didn’t take long until they arrived at the same restaurant that Viktor and Yuuri visited the first time they  met properly. Yurio looked reluctant at first, but Viktor pushed him inside and got a seat in the far corner.

“I swear, Yurio, katsudon is like… the best food in the world,” Viktor kept saying. He was already salivating at the thought. “Oh, Yuuri, I just remembered something… you guys wait here!” Viktor suddenly got up from his seat and left the restaurant abruptly before either Yuuri’s could stop him.

Without Viktor to do all the talking, the silence between them became awkward. Yuuri racked his brain trying to find something to talk about. Skating…? Skating is a safe topic, right?

“Ah… Yurio, I watched on the news you’ve won gold medal in World Junior, congratulations,” Yuuri said slowly to the teenager. “I watched your free skate program, it was amazing.”

“Thanks,” Yurio answered shortly.

What else… what else to talk about…? Yuuri felt like he wanted to pull out his hair in frustration.

“Uhm… I heard you will start your senior debut soon?” Yuuri asked.

“Yes,” Yurio’s answer was still short.

“I think you will have an amazing debut, Yurio,” Yuuri smiled, sincerely hoping for the best and cheering for the young figure skater.

“I guess,” Yurio said simply.

Yuuri prayed to the Fanboy God for Viktor to come back quickly from wherever he went to. That man was really so dense, he didn’t realize how awkward it could be for Yuuri to be left alone with only Yurio. Yuuri was never good at talking to strangers. Even the first few times he chatted with Viktor, it was always Viktor who initiated the conversation while Yuuri just went with the flow.

“Can I ask you something…?” Yurio asked quietly, which made Yuuri’s body rigid with anticipation.

“Y-yes…?”

“Can I… have your autograph…?” Yurio had pulled out a waterproof marker and an ‘On ICE!!!’ limited edition T-shirt that had been sold during the event. Yurio was looking away from Yuuri, but the older male could see how much Yurio wanted it but he was too shy to admit.

So, Yuuri smiled and nodded. “Sure!” he said and took the marker and T-shirt, signing them neatly.

> _To Yuri Plisetsky, good luck!_
> 
> _Katsuki Yuuri_

He even added a small drawing of Sergei at the bottom of his signature before he capped the marker and returned them to Yurio. Yurio’s eyes were sparkling in happiness as he carefully put the T-shirt into his backpack.

“Thank you very much,” Yurio mumbled.

Viktor still hadn’t come back after their katsudon arrived, Yurio looked excited when he saw the food in front of him. Yuuri asked for a fork when he saw Yurio glare at the chopsticks warily. It didn’t take long before Yurio was wolfing down his food at the same speed Viktor always had.

They finished half of their food when Viktor returned, carrying something big along with him. He was panting softly, as if he just dashed back to the restaurant from wherever the place he was at.

“Viktor, your food is already here,” Yuuri said. “Where were you go anyway?”

“To get something for Yurio,” Viktor smiled and patted the large paper wrapped thing on his lap. “Here you go, Yurio. A gift from Japan,” Viktor handed it to Yurio.

Yurio frowned in confusion and unwrapped whatever gift Viktor was given to him. Yuuri caught a glimpse of it and laughed softly. It was a body pillow. A large body pillow, with Sergei Romanov’s picture printed on the front and the back. Yurio was fuming at the sight.

“I’m not a weirdo otaku like you!!” he shouted angrily.

“Aww… Yurio! I know you want one since you kept eying mine back in St. Petersburg. See! Now you can have your own Sergei body pillow! I remember you said you like Sergei,” Viktor laughed.

“How could you remember something like that while forgetful about other things?!” Yurio huffed, yet he didn’t return the body pillow and clutched it in his arms. Yuuri couldn’t help but think Yurio was really cute, like an angry kitten.

They finished their meal and hailed another taxi to get them to the airport. Yurio didn’t bring much except for his backpack, and now with the addition of body pillow. After the good-byes and thank yous and promises to talk to each other, Yurio left, going back to St. Petersburg. Viktor and Yuuri walked back slowly while talking to each other.

“Yurio is really a good kid,” Yuuri commented.

“He is. But people tend to misunderstand him because he is angry all the time,” Viktor nodded. “And it sometimes affects his skating.”

“He’s really talented. I watched Yurio’s program in the last World Junior, it was very good,” Yuuri nodded. “He has all the technical elements down.”

“Hmmm… yeah,” Viktor nodded and took Yuuri’s hand in his. “But I still think Yuuri’s ‘Stay Close to Me’ is the best. Since I’m Yuuri’s fan.”

Yuuri blushed at the sight of their hands entwined together. “I thought you like my manga,” Yuuri said.

“Oh, I like Yuuri’s manga. And I like Yuuri’s skating. If Yuuri made katsudon, I’ll like Yuuri’s katsudon too. I’m Yuuri’s fan, I like everything you do,” Viktor winked at him.

Damn it, Nikiforov. How can you say such cheesy lines and still look cool and dignified while doing it? Maybe with Viktor here, right now, Yuuri might as well try to branch out to the shoujo romance genre by borrowing Viktor’s lines.

This man was dangerous.

 

 

 


	8. Deadlines and Championships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov mused about his time knowing Katsuki Yuuri, then it hit him in the face...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 8th chapter! I finally finished writing this story... There will be 14 chapters + 1 epilogue! But I might write one-shots and drabbles about this AU in the series ^_^ Please, look forward for them as well~!
> 
> Also, thank you for all the comments and kudos ^^ they're really making my day! They're the fuel for my writings~
> 
> Thanks for my sweet beta, working hard for this chapter~!

 

**Present.**

 

It was fascinating watching Yuuri wake up from his sleep. Really, Viktor always thought it was like watching a documentary on sloths. He couldn’t stop himself from narrating it in his head as he watched Yuuri moved slowly on instinct. Yuuri was never a morning person, at least after he started his debut as a mangaka. He could barely function without coffee, and it would take at least two hours until his sluggish brain functioned properly.

Viktor had morning practice today. He had planned on going with Yuuri, but since his fiancé was still in his sloth mode, Viktor decided to leave first.

“Yuuri,” Viktor said gently to half-asleep Yuuri. “Yuuri, I’m going to the skating rink for morning practice. Are you okay on your own for a while? You can join me after you’re more awake,” Viktor’s voice was soft when he talked to half-conscious Yuuri.

Yuuri yawned and nodded quietly.

“I’ll call the room service to bring you coffee and breakfast, okay?”

Another nod.

“If you decide not to come to the rink, call me, okay?”

And there was another nod.

“Eat your breakfast properly.”

Yuuri only nodded once more.

Viktor couldn’t help himself and hugged Yuuri tightly.

“I love you, Yuuri!” he gently kissed Yuuri.

“I love you too, Vitya…” Yuuri mumbled sleepily.

With that, Viktor left Yuuri for the time being, letting his fiancé curl up on the bed while watching morning cartoons on TV. It would at least take two hours for Yuuri to be fully awake and functioning, and Viktor knew Yuuri would join him soon in the rink. Besides, now he would have time to talk to Yakov about things he planned for the World Championship this year, and his retirement after that. There was nothing to stop him. Yakov might want him to compete for one or two more season, but Viktor knew he would still chose Yuuri.

Well, he had chosen Yuuri on the day he decided to ask him out. Yuuri was so adorable back then. He softly hummed a very familiar tune as he made his way to the rink. Yakov was already there, talking to Lilia Baranovskaya, who choreographed Yurio’s free skate program. He greeted them before he started to stretch and warm up, and put on his skates.

“Oi, where’s your Katsudon?” Yurio asked from behind the partition.

“Yuuri just woke up. He still needs more time to wake up properly before coming here,” Viktor smiled and stepped onto the ice for warm up.

“You two are a really high maintenance couple,” Yurio sighed and skated away.

Viktor just smiled and started his warm up. He couldn’t wait until this season was over. He should talk to Yakov about it. He wondered when Yuuri would come to the rink. Viktor shifted his focus on his practice, until he caught a glimpse of dark hair on rink side. Viktor smiled and waved at Yuuri.

“Yuuri!” he smiled stupidly and quickly skated closer to his fiancé. He patted Yuuri’s hair gently.

“Have you eaten your breakfast?” Viktor asked.

“I have,” Yuuri nodded. “You should return to practice now,” Yuuri patted Viktor’s hand gently and smiled.

“Okay, Yuuri!” Viktor nodded and continued his practice. Yuuri laughed when Yurio chastised Viktor for that disgusting lovey-dovey display of affection on the rink side which Viktor took in with a warm laughed.

The practice continued until Yakov announced they should wrap it up for now. He told Viktor to get some rest for the evening event, and told Yuuri to make sure Viktor didn’t do anything stupid before the competition. Ever since Yuuri and Viktor started to date each other, Yakov trusted Yuuri enough to take care of his petulant skater since Viktor would only listen to Yuuri. And Yakov planned on utilizing it to make Viktor listen to him.

“I always wonder how you do that, make him listen to you,” Yakov’s voice sounded gruff as usual.

“Hm? Maybe because I wrote his favorite manga and I can always threaten to kill his favorite characters if he didn’t listen to me?” Yuuri said jokingly. He never needed to go to such drastic measures, Viktor always listened to him.

“Has he talked to you about his retirement?” Yakov asked.

Yuuri nodded. “He has.”

“I wanted him to go for another season or two. I know he could do it,” Yakov said.

“Of course he could. But it isn’t my place to make that decision for him. Whether Vitya wanted to continue or retire, I’ll always by his side to support him,” Yuuri smiled. “I’m sorry, Yakov. I cannot make him listen to me about this one. This is his choice, not mine.”

Yakov snorted. “Sometimes I feel like you’re more of his coach than I am.”

“We all know that’s not true. Viktor trusted you, even when he was being an airhead and never listened to anyone,” Yuuri laughed softly. “Yakov is the one who had been beside Viktor since the beginning, and for that, I want to thank you,” Yuuri pulled the older man into a hug, suddenly made Yakov felt awkward.

It seemed like Viktor’s hug-bugs had gotten to him now, but Yuuri didn’t care.

“Thank you so much, Yakov.”

 

* * *

 

**Two years ago.**

 

Viktor enjoyed his stay in Japan. For a whole week, he went everywhere with Yuuri. They went to Akihabara (Viktor insisted he wanted more figurines and Yuuri wanted new Gun-pla Models), wasting 100 yen coins on Gachapon until they got the toys they wanted. They went to Shibuya and Ikebukuro (Viktor wanted to see the famous West Gate Park), they went to Shinjuku and hoped on the shinkansen and then went to Osaka. It was fun. Yuuri seemed to enjoy it too, being free of his work for a while.

If they didn’t travel all over Tokyo, Viktor and Yuuri would go to the skating rink. Viktor talked a few times with Yuuri’s old coach, mostly asking about Yuuri’s skating career which Celestino gladly shared with Viktor while Yuuri whined and said Viktor didn’t need to know that.

“But Yuuri, I’m really curious,” Viktor said and urged Celestino to share some more. Feeling ignored, Yuuri huffed and decided he would go take a walk for awhile and left Viktor with Celestino.

Viktor asked a favor from Celestino, which the Italian man gladly helped him with. After that, the rink started to fill up with the Ice Castle Skating Club members coming for practice. Viktor talked to some of them, took several selfies and signed several posters before he could retrieve himself and walk back to Yuuri’s apartment. He found  that Yuuri was already there, back at the apartment, working on something that Viktor could only guess was a name (yes, Viktor knew what a name was, he asked Yuuri).

“Yuuri, are you mad at me?” Viktor asked carefully. “I didn’t mean to pry… I was just… curious…”

“No, I’m not,” Yuuri said. “I have years to recover from it, talking about it doesn’t bother me anymore. It was just… well it was embarrassing when Celestino told you how much I’m idolizing you. And he even told you how I used to copy your routine during practice just for the fun of it… Or that I punched my rinkmate for badmouthing you in front of me…” Yuuri flushed in embarrassment.

“Hm… Celestino didn’t tell me about that last part,” Viktor mumbled.

Yuuri cursed softly under his breath.

“You really punched someone for me?” Viktor asked.

“He had it coming,” Yuuri huffed.

“And here I thought little Yuuri was a good kid with cute chubby cheeks,” Viktor chuckled when he remembered Yuuri’s childhood photo that Phichit showed to him.

Yuuri pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you done embarrassing me?” Yuuri asked dryly.

Viktor looked up to Yuuri who was sitting on the couch, while Viktor sat on the warm rug with his head rested on the couch beside Yuuri. “There was nothing embarrassing about your story, Yuuri. In fact, Celestino kept praising you. He was proud of you, how you could pick yourself up after falling and start anew. It required immeasurable strength and courage,” Viktor said gently. “I don’t know if I can ever be as strong as you. I really admired you, Yuuri, and to this day, I kept thanking whatever deity that brought us together. I might never know Katsuki Yuuri if I didn’t go to that bookstore and see that ice skating manga. I might never have talked to you if we didn’t have Phichit accepting my offer for commemorative photos and tagged you in the selfie. I might never have meet Yuuri properly if I didn’t run away from my slump and saw how amazing you are. If someone should idolize anyone, it was supposed to be me who idolized you. And I am. No matter how many times, I will keep saying it to you, I’m Yuuri’s number one fan.”

The silence filled the room after Viktor’s finished his speech. Viktor could feel his face was flushed slightly from telling Yuuri what had been hanging in his mind lately. In a week he stayed with Yuuri, Viktor had seen a lot of him. Yuuri was shy, but he could be stubborn. He never quit or backed down once he decided on something. The first time Viktor met Yuuri, he thought the younger man was adorable, but when Yuuri stepped onto the ice, despite his inability to land any quads or triples, Yuuri skated like he was born to do it. And Viktor realized how beautiful Yuuri was.

And to think they just met a few months ago, it felt like Viktor had known Yuuri for a long time. It scared Viktor. Yuuri could easily read through him like an open book. But the scary thing wasn’t that Viktor didn’t want Yuuri to see through him. The scary thing was the fact that Viktor wanted to bare himself even more to Yuuri. Yuuri was one of a few people that see Viktor as a human (despite how Yuuri kept telling Viktor he was his idol). Viktor knew how reluctant Yuuri at first when Viktor braved himself to start a video chat with him. But maybe it was Viktor’s tenacity, but slowly Yuuri started to open up to him. They talked about small things, mostly about Makkachin and foods. It was refreshing for once, someone not asking him about his programs, performance, medals, or championships. Sure, they talked about figure skating, but it was mostly Yuuri asking for advice for his manga. And it was exhilarating how Yuuri would translate Viktor’s explanation to his drawings.

Then Viktor went into his slump, and just like Yuuri said, he ran away to Japan instead of practicing for the European Championship and World Championship. He was glad his impulsiveness brought him to Japan and met Yuuri properly. Yuuri shook him awake, he skated for Viktor, showing him and inspiring him. For the first time, Viktor wanted to win a medal not for himself but for Yuuri. And he did, breaking the records while he was at it. He was Yuuri’s hero, and Yuuri only deserved the best. His stay back then was short, but eye opening.

This time he could stay a bit longer, enjoying times with Yuuri, roaming the city like crazy tourist, stuffing themselves with food. Viktor was still touched how Yuuri worked hard so he could have full week off to be with Viktor. Yuuri was perfect, Yuuri was beautiful.

The room was quiet except for the soft sounds of Yuuri’s pencil grazing the paper. Viktor leaned closer and rested his head against Yuuri’s hip. It was warm, and Yuuri smelled really nice. Yuuri didn’t say anything or move, so Viktor kept his position happily.

“My parents gave me a poodle when I asked for one after reading that you also had a poodle from a magazine,” Yuuri said out of nowhere. “I named him Viktor and called him Vicchan, and for years, he was my only friend. I was never good at making friends. My Mom put me in ballet class, hoping I would gain some confidence, but it didn’t work out. My ballet teacher pushed me into figure skating, and I loved it instantly. But I was still alone. Then I saw Viktor’s video, your Junior Grand Prix program, and I thought it was so beautiful. That was the time when I had a concrete goal for my figure skating. I want to skate on the same ice as you. When I have Vicchan, I didn’t feel so alone anymore, and I started to make friends. Viktor is always my idol, and my dream never wavered. When I was old enough, I moved to Tokyo with my new coach, Celestino. I started to make even more friends, because of Viktor. We would all have fun watching you on TV, trying your routines during practice. Even now, Viktor will always have a special place in my life,” Yuuri said as he looked up to the ceiling. “When I found out I could never skate the way I used to, my world crumbled. I’ve been trying so hard all this time just so I can be on the same ice as you, and suddenly it got taken from me.

“But I realized, if I kept being depressed and forgetting all my hard work, it would be like betraying you. So I tried to find a new outlet and started the physiotherapy until I can walk and skate again. And I wrote ice skating manga because I’m not ready to be separated from that world yet. And it seemed to work because finally, I can meet Viktor,” Yuuri smiled. He set down his pencil and put the name he was working on all this time on Viktor’s lap.

Viktor blinked slowly when he realized it wasn’t a name at. Well, it was a name in a sense, but it wasn’t about ‘On ICE!!!’. It was about Viktor. There was no dialogue at all, only panel after panel of Viktor’s program, which he recognized quickly as ‘Stay Close to Me’. It was more detailed than the usual name, and Viktor was fascinated watching himself ‘move’ on the papers. Viktor always thought Yuuri’s drawing was so dynamic he could hear the music in his head, but this one was a new level altogether. It was beautiful; Viktor slowly traced the pencil lines with his fingers. His heart was pounding, he could feel his face heat up slowly the more he looked at the manga Yuuri had drawn just for him. Viktor clutched it close to his chest.

His chest felt tight with emotion right now, and Viktor was sure his face looked so uncool blushing all red like this. He hid his face on his knees to hide from Yuuri’s gaze.

“Viktor?” Yuuri called his name.

Viktor didn’t trust his voice to answer right now.

“Hey, Viktor?” Yuuri called again. “Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Is it your stomach? Oh no… You didn’t eat something weird on your way back from the rink, right?”

Why did Yuuri kept making his chest hurt like this?

“Viktor…? Viktor, please say something… Should I call ambulance…?”

Why did Yuuri make his heart pound like this?

“Viktor… Viktor please… Say something… Anything…”

Then it hit Viktor hard. How stupid he was.

Like, really stupid.

Even though they only knew each other for a couple of months, they only met in person for a little over a week. Viktor knew it, Viktor knew what his mind was telling him.

“Yuuri…” Viktor finally mumbled softly, face still hidden.

“Viktor…? Viktor, are you okay…?” Yuuri had moved and Viktor could feel his warmth closer to him. Yuuri was kneeling in front of him. “Viktor? Say something…” Yuuri’s hands were warm on his shoulders.

“Yuuri…” Viktor said it again, this time a bit louder.

“Yes? Yes, I’m here, Viktor,” Yuuri said, there was worry in his voice, and it made Viktor’s heart swell at the thought of Yuuri cared for him.

Viktor looked up and found Yuuri’s face was close to him. Those warm brown orbs looking right at Viktor’s ocean blues, and Viktor thought Yuuri’s eyes were so beautiful up close. Viktor lifted his hands up and touched Yuuri’s face gently, as if he would put more pressure, Yuuri would crumble apart.

“Viktor…?” Yuuri’s voice was filled with confusion.

“Yuuri…” Viktor whispered the name slowly. “Yuuri, please… go out with me.”

He knew he had fallen for Yuuri.

And Viktor waited.

 

 


	9. G-Pen and Blades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katsuki Yuuri gave his answers...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter 9, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for all the comments and kudos! I hope you like this chapter...
> 
> Feel free to drop any comment and kudos~!

 

  **Two years ago.**

 

Yuuri’s body went rigid in front of Viktor. The Russian man’s hands were warm on his face. Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat as he stared into Viktor’s ocean blue orbs. His brain still needed more time to process everything he had just heard. What… what should he do…? How should he respond… Yuuri could hear the clock was ticking in the silence that filled up the room, as the two of them stayed still in their positions. Slowly, he could feel the heat creep up to his cheeks, ears and neck when the realization hit him. Viktor’s face was so close now, Yuuri could feel the warm breath on his face. There was a silent plea in Viktor’s eyes, unspoken yet screaming and yearning for him.

For _Yuuri_.

Viktor was blushing, and Yuuri couldn’t help but think the soft dusty pink looked good on Viktor. After his grandiose speech about Yuuri, and Yuuri’s own speech that followed after… Yuuri knew something had changed. Something about their relationship shifted after Yuuri’s attempt on ‘Stay Close to Me’ months ago in the empty skating rink. Viktor was Yuuri’s idol, Viktor was Yuuri’s hero. But a few months ago, when Viktor spilled everything to Yuuri in that empty skating rink, Yuuri saw the vulnerable side of Viktor.

_Viktor is human after all_.

That was what he thought. Just like Yuuri, just like any other person on this planet. Viktor Nikiforov was just human, he was imperfect. But it was okay. It was part of being human. And Yuuri accepted it with open arms. He didn’t know why he stepped on the ice and decided he would skate for Viktor back then. To cheer him up? Show off? Yuuri wasn’t even sure. He was only following his instinct. He couldn’t land any quads or triples, so he opted with singles, doubles, and combinations. Once again, something shifted between them.

It was mutual admiration. Not as Viktor Nikiforov the figure skating legend and Katsuki Yuuri the mangaka, but as Viktor and Yuuri, two imperfect humans overcome their hurdles with determinations. And everything just flowed after that.

And Viktor showed up once again, and Yuuri knew, this week was such bliss. Viktor was his idol, Viktor was his friend, and Viktor was someone he admired. Yuuri wasn’t thinking when he got home after leaving Viktor back in the skating rink with Celestino, (how dare the two of them talk about his embarrassing past like that!), he grabbed some papers and his pencil, curled up on the couch and started to draw. It was his outlet after all.

Then Viktor came back home and he had to start the speech. Yuuri’s hand only moved faster, defining each line to translate the beauty of each movement of Viktor Nikiforov onto the paper. And without thinking, as his hand moved to finished several panels left, Yuuri started his own speech.

What was with all these speeches anyway? A School opening ceremony?

One thing led to another, and now Viktor just confessed to him.

What should he do…?

If this was shoujo manga, Viktor would say something like…

“Ah, you don’t have to answer right away, Yuuri. I know it was so sudden… and out of nowhere…” Viktor said softly, and retracted his hands from Yuuri’s face.

Suddenly, Yuuri missed the warmth.

“I’ll be waiting for your answer… and even if you reject me, nothing will change between us,” Viktor said again slowly.

Is Viktor an idiot?

“I mean… It’s not like I want you to reject me or anything…”

Viktor talks too much.

 “… and it was really out of nowhere too…”

Shut up, Viktor.

“…But I hope you will at least consider it…”

He really is an idiot.

“Yuuri…?”

Yuuri pulled Viktor into a hug, and gave a shy kiss on the side of Viktor’s lips. His face was burning bright red as he buried it on Viktor’s shoulder.

“Idiot,” Yuuri mumbled, and kept clinging on to Viktor.

Viktor body was tense in Yuuri’s arms, but he quickly relaxed and returned the hug. It was warm and gentle, and Viktor’s lovely scent enveloped him. Yuuri buried himself further into Viktor’s arms and sighed softly.

 “Yuuri…” Viktor mumbled softly.

“Hm?” Yuuri didn’t bother to lift his head.

“Does this mean the answer is yes?”

“What do you think?”

 

* * *

 

Yuuri’s one week vacation was over, and everyone started to work as usual again. Viktor still had a week off in Japan, which he spent venturing between the studio and ice skating rink. Whenever Yuuri had time to spare, they would go on a small impromptu date when Yuuri went out to buy a new pen tip. There wasn’t that much change in their relationship. Viktor was always affectionate to begin with, and Yuuri had already got used to him being hugged randomly. Sometimes they stayed awake late at night; with Yuuri working on his manga and Viktor was sat there with him, humming softly to the music playing in the background while he was writing something on his notepad if he wasn’t working on Gundam plastic models Yuuri gave him to assemble.

Their relationship progressed slowly. Viktor didn’t mind it, Yuuri also didn’t mind it. There was no use to rush things; they were just going with the flow. Yuuri sometimes asked Viktor for some advice on skating or sometimes he asked Viktor to pose a move when he couldn’t get his human figure model to do it for him. Viktor would ask Yuuri’s opinion on the skating programs he was working on, including the music. Yuuri was really creative on describing the story when he heard a piece of music or watched a figure skating video.

On quiet night when Yuuri was done with his manuscript, both of them would curl up on the couch and watched more figure skating videos and bad rom-com. It was simple, it was domestic. Until the week was over and Viktor had to go back to St. Petersburg.

Yuuri accompanied him to the airport, hand holding onto Viktor’s. To tell the truth, Yuuri didn’t want to let Viktor go. Not yet. He wanted a bit more time. He should’ve made sure to get two weeks off instead of just one week now. On the last six days of Viktor’s stay in Japan, Yuuri was caught up with his manga; they could barely spend the day together. They hadn’t even gone oo a proper date (the impromptu one didn’t count). Yuuri wanted to ask Viktor to stay longer, but he knew, Viktor had to go back to start his training for the next season.

“Yuuri…?” Viktor asked slowly, seemed he had caught up to Yuuri’s solemn mood since this morning.

“Hm…?” Yuuri looked up to Viktor. He could feel Viktor squeeze his hand gently.

“Are you okay?” Viktor asked him softly. “You look a bit gloomy today…”

“Ah, I did?” Yuuri smiled slightly and rubbed his cheek. “I was just… thinking…?”

“About?”

“Things.”

“Yuuri…” Viktor pouted. Damn, that pout should be illegal on a grown man as good looking as Viktor Nikiforov.

“It’s fine, Viktor,” Yuuri said quickly, and squeezed Viktor’s hand back as a reassurance.

Viktor didn’t say anything, but he scooted closer to Yuuri. The Japanese man blushed lightly and leaned to Viktor. They hadn’t even kissed yet, Yuuri mused. The only kiss they did was that one time Viktor asked him out, just a small peck aimed at Viktor’s cheek, but missed and landed on the corner of Viktor’s lips instead. Yuuri blushed when he remembered it. That was really bold of him to initiate something like that.

“Yuuri, in the future, will you come and watch every competition I participate in?” Viktor asked slowly. “I mean, not just in Japan, but anywhere in the world…? I always feel like I can do better knowing Yuuri is there watching me.”

“Viktor…” Yuuri looked down to their entwined hands and blushed.

“Ah… but Yuuri will probably be very busy, right? I mean… with all the deadlines and such,,, and the flight expenses too… But you don’t have to worry about flight expenses because if you came, I’ll buy you the plane tickets… but then again, Yuuri’s schedule might not let him come…” Viktor started to ramble, and Yuuri chuckled when he felt Viktor’s hand tightened around his when he was rambling.

It was cute.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come to as many competition as I can with you,” Yuuri laughed. “So, win me some more gold medals, Vitya.”

Viktor was speechless for a moment.

“You called me ‘Vitya’…”

“A-ah? Was that wrong thing to do…? I thought that was how you’re supposed to be called…”

“No! That’s perfect! Call me ‘Vitya’ from now on, Yuuri!”

Yuuri nodded and laughed softly. “Okay, Vitya.”

When they arrived at the airport, they paid the fare and Yuuri walked alongside Viktor to the terminal gate. Yuuri looked up at the Russian man in front of him, he suddenly wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Should they hug? Or pat each other’s back? Handshakes? Yuuri bit his lip nervously and looked down.

He didn’t want to say goodbye yet.

“I wish I could stay longer with you,” Viktor said softly, as he stepped closer to Yuuri, hugging him gently.

“You have to go back to St. Petersburg for training,” Yuuri said softly in acceptance. “You will always be my hero, Vitya,” Yuuri buried his face in Viktor’s chest, feeling calm when he inhaled Viktor’s scent from his jacket. It was always oddly comforting.

“I’ll win some more gold for you,” Viktor smiled. “I know you’re secretly a dragon that loves hoarding gold in your spare time…” Viktor teased.

Yuuri shrugged. “Can’t help it. They’re so pretty and shiny…”

“I should get going now,” Viktor said, he lifted his hands and caressed Yuuri’s cheek gently. Yuuri smiled and leaned to the warmth. “Oh, wait… wait… we should take selfies first…” Viktor said, completely ruining the moment.

“Vitya…” Yuuri whined, but Viktor already pulled out his phone and set it to the camera.

“Smile, Yuuri!” Viktor said and snapped a few pictures with their faces close together. Yuuri smiled, with his face a bit flushed until Viktor pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and snapped another picture while doing it.

“Vitya!” Yuuri looked at Viktor and pouted. His face was weird with the startled look on it because Viktor suddenly kissed him on the cheek.

“I can’t hold myself back,” Viktor laughed and put his phone in his pocket. “I’ll call you once I land.”

“Okay. Say hi for Makkachin and Yurio from me?” Yuuri asked.

“Will do,” Viktor nodded. “Bye, Yuuri.”

“Bye, Vitya,” Yuuri waved, before he watched Viktor turn around to enter the terminal gate. But the Russian man suddenly stopped and ran back to Yuuri as quick as his long legs would bring him.

“V-Vitya…?” Yuuri asked in confusion, as Viktor pulled him close and kissed him fully on the lips. Yuuri could feel every fiber in his body melt into the kiss, and without hesitation, he kissed him back. Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s waist and pulled him closer while Yuuri had his arms around Viktor’s neck. They didn’t know how long they stayed like that, kissing softly yet passionately, as if they were trying to imprint the feeling of each other’s lips. Yuuri wanted to stay like this forever.

When they finally pulled away, they were panting softly, with cheeks flushed, still holding each other.

“I should’ve done it sooner,” Viktor whispered softly and nuzzled Yuuri’s cheek gently.

“Hmm… _we_ should’ve done it sooner,” Yuuri corrected him.

“I want to stay,” Viktor said.

“I want you to stay,” Yuuri was being honest.

Viktor bit his lip and took a deep breath.

“Make sure you’ll watch my performances?” he asked.

“I’ll do my best,” Yuuri nodded. “Train hard, and listen to your coach.”

“Okay,” Viktor nodded. “I love you, Yuuri.”

“I love you too, Vitya.”

 

* * *

 

 

**Present.**

 

Yuuri always thought Viktor was beautiful. When he moved on ice, the music would play its seductive beats, and Viktor moved along, being guided by it. Today was his short program routine, ‘On Love: Eros’. Yuuri smiled when he saw Viktor moving seductively on the ice, enthralling his lover with every cock of hips and every glanced he threw in Yuuri’s direction. Viktor was charming. He was sexy. He could enrapture the audience with a single smile. Yuuri always joked about how watching Viktor’s ‘Eros’ could make him pregnant.

Then Viktor said he wanted twins, so he would dance to ‘Eros’ twice during practice. And after that, Viktor would come to Yuuri and ask if Yuuri had gotten pregnant yet, should they buy test pack now.

Yuuri would smack his head for being stupid.

Viktor was amazing. He could be stupid sometimes, but he was still amazing. Yuuri smiled when he watched Viktor leap for a quad flip, that were quickly followed by combinations.

Viktor was a romantic. He could be a bit of an airhead and impulsive, but that was what made him fall in love with Viktor. When he was younger, Viktor had always been his idol. Perfect, flawless, elegant… He was something Yuuri couldn’t reach. The Creature of dreams. And for Yuuri to finally meet him, he had to work harder than anyone else.

And now, Viktor was Yuuri’s everything. The thought of a world where he didn’t meet Viktor was bleak and dark, Yuuri wondered if he could survive in that kind of world. Viktor’s was Yuuri’s sunshine. He was gaudy, obnoxious, loud, annoying. Yet he was also warm, caring, gentle, loving.

The Viktor he knew now wasn’t perfect. He was childish, clingy, blunt-without-mercy, an airhead, sometimes unobservant. This Viktor would burn down Yuuri’s apartment building just from making a late-night-cup-ramen while accompanying Yuuri, who was finishing his manuscript up late at night. This Viktor would sulk in the corner if Yuuri didn’t pay enough attention to him. Once when they were in St. Petersburg, Viktor ran away from home because Yuuri told him they would not have katsudon for every meal for three days straight. It took a lot of help from Mila, Georgi, Yurio, even Yakov, to coax him to go home and not having a sleepover in the rink.

This Viktor was high maintenance, but Yuuri loved him nonetheless.

Yuuri and Yakov were already waiting for Viktor in Kiss & Cry. Yuuri was smiling proudly when he saw Viktor skate quickly over the ice, waving the Makkachin doll that someone threw for his perfect performance.

“Yuuri! I did great, didn’t I?” Viktor looked so happy; his smile was filled with childish glee.

Of course he did great. Yuuri smiled and spread his arms to hug Viktor, and his fiancé easily slipped into the embrace and kissed Yuuri’s forehead.

“Ugh, I hate it when you become even taller with the skates,” Yuuri pouted, but there was a proud look in his eyes as he buried his face in Viktor’s chest.

“Aww… But I love being taller. Yuuri looks so cute when he’s a lot shorter,” Viktor laughed and accepted the bottle that Yakov handed to him. They sat and waited for Viktor’s scores. Viktor was holding Yuuri’s hand tightly and leaned closer to his fiancé. “Don’t worry, Yuuri. I still remember you’re my little katsudon dragon who loves hoarding gold. I’ll win another gold medal too for you this time.”

Yuuri smacked his arm playfully and cheered when Viktor got the first place for his short program. Yuuri turned to Viktor and smiled.

“Well, I love pretty and shiny things,” he winked.

Viktor was really his sunshine.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two years ago.**

 

The studio felt lonelier without Viktor or any of his assistants. Yuuri sat alone behind his drawing table, making a copy of a short ice skating scene manga he made for Viktor. It didn’t quite capture the same atmosphere, but Yuuri was happy enough. Viktor brought the original one along with him to St. Petersburg. He told Yuuri he would frame it.

Yuuri glanced at the clock. Viktor was still in the middle of his flight, so Yuuri couldn’t call him. He had waited for Viktor’s call once he landed.

His phone rang the familiar tune of ‘Imperial March’, which means it was Phichit who called him. Yuuri answered the phone lazily.

“Hello?”

 “ _SENSEI!! Why didn’t you tell me…?!!_ ” Phichit’s whiny voice could be heard over the phone.

“Phichit-kun…?” Yuuri frowned.

“ _When did that happen? Sensei… I thought I was your best friend…!_ ” Phichit whined over the call, which only confused Yuuri even more.

“Phichit-kun, what happened…?” Yuuri asked.

“ _Wha—? Sensei, you didn’t know…? Have you check Instagram?_ ” Phichit asked.

“Uhm… I haven’t…” Yuuri mumbled. He was too busy trying to recreate the piece he made for Viktor, but Phichit didn’t have to know that. Yuuri pulled his laptop from under his desk and turned it on. He quickly logged in to his Instagram account. He blinked at so many notifications. He opened it, and saw Viktor tagged him and mentioned him on his latest post.

_Probably before he boarded the plane_ , Yuuri thought and opened the post. He blushed when he saw the photo.

It was of him and Viktor, the selfie they took before Viktor entered the terminal, the one with Viktor kissing his cheek and Yuuri was looking startled at the camera.

“ _Sensei, you still there? Have you read the caption?_ ”

Yuuri started to read the caption.

> Back to St. Petersburg for more training after a nice #vacation!
> 
> Don’t worry, sweet @katsudon-kun, I’ll win some gold for you.
> 
> #katsukiyuuri #love

Yuuri was blushing bright red, and slammed his laptop screen closed from embarrassment. Seriously, that man was a total airhead! Yuuri slammed his head on the desk to fend off the headache that started to form.

“ _Sensei… Come on! You should at least tell me, when did you two start dating?!_ ” Phichit was still demanding him. “ _If you don’t tell me, I’m going to the studio!_ ”  he ended the call quickly. Yuuri could imagine Phichit was already on his way over. And probably bringing along Minako, Nishigori, and Yuko as well.

Damn you, Nikiforov.

Yuuri groaned and hid under his desk.

 

 

 


	10. Editor and Coach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nishigori Takeshi and Yakov Feltsman gave their shares of point of view about their respective charges love life so far...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, so I hope you enjoy it as well ^^ Thanks for my sweet beta~!
> 
> Bessatsu Margaret and Cocohana are shoujo manga magazine and josei manga magazine published by Shueisha. There are some reference to Gundam Plastic Models in this chapter...
> 
> Also, I planned on making one-shots in this AU as part of the series. Feel free to give some suggestion for them, I will consider writing them~ ^^
> 
> Kudos and comments give me life, and life makes me write more~!

**Two years ago.**

 

Nishigori always thought working with Yuuri was really enjoyable. The mangaka never really gave him a hard time, unless Yuuri was being stubborn. Yet, Katsuki Yuuri was always exceeding his expectation. Nishigori still remembered the first time he met Yuuri, he came in, bringing a manuscript, and since Nishigori was the only one available from the editorial department, he was the one who came down to meet Yuuri. The first manuscript was mediocre, another battle manga plot that had been recycled over and over again. But there was something intriguing about Yuuri, so he asked Yuuri to bring him another manuscript. The second manuscript was a sport manga about hockey. It was unique, the story and art was at least five times better than the first manuscript. Nishigori put it for Tezuka Awards, and Yuuri won first place.

He asked for another one to be put on Akamaru JUMP, Yuuri came to him with a manuscript on another sport genre, but this time it was male figure skating. It was even much better than the hockey manga, the idea was fresh. Nishigori was fighting tooth and nail with the Chief Editor about putting it on Akamaru. The manga might be about figure skating and not very JUMP-like. But Nishigori’s instinct told him it could work. In the end, the Chief Editor gave up. He was still skeptical, he even told Nishigori the manga wouldn’t even get to the top 5 ranks. And Nishigori swore it was Yuuri’s stubbornness that rubbed off on  him, he mischievously asked if the manga got first place it would get serialized on JUMP no matter what. The Chief Editor took the bet, arrogantly telling Nishigori that ‘Dancing on the Blades’, the title of that one-shot, would never get first place.

“There’s no way such manga would be published in JUMP. It’ll get more recognition in Bessatsu Margaret or maybe Cocohana,” the Chief scoffed at Nishigori. “Male figure skating…” he snorted.

After receiving such cold response, Nishigori only got more determined to show him that this manga could be a new revolutionary idea for shounen magazine. In the end, ‘Dancing on the Blades’ got the recognition it deserved and secured the first spot in Akamaru. Nishigori smiled smugly when the Chief Editor finally green lighted the serialization.

“I’ll give it three months. In three months that manga will get cancelled,” the Chief said again.

Thus, Nishigori helped Yuuri to make sure his manga would secure a high enough rank to not be cancelled. It was hard, especially when Yuuri clearly opposed Nishigori’s idea to make the manga more shounen-like by adding more female characters as heroines. Yuuri was a stubborn man, he made a bet instead. In three months, ‘On ICE!!!’ (the newly titled manga) secured the top 3 rank in JUMP. It soon became the most popular manga, especially when a top figure skater like Viktor Nikiforov started to promote it in his social media pages.

The Chief Editor’s attitude quickly changed, and now he was supportive for anything about ‘On ICE!!!’. Nishigori was proud of Yuuri. He was even more surprised when his wife, Yuko, asked to be Yuuri’s assistant. Nishigori was curious at first, but Yuko told him she was Yuuri’s fan in his earlier skating days. Yuuri never talked much about his previous skating career, but apparently he was famous enough before his retirement. So, Nishigori let Yuko work as Yuuri’s assistant (he knew how talented his wife was, but Yuko was never interested on writing manga herself).

He was always grateful he could be Yuuri’s editor. The man was a hard worker, he never slacked off. He was also responsible, and whenever he said he would do something, he would do his best. But one thing after another, Nishigori wondered since when was Viktor Nikiforov, the living legend of figure skating, became friends with Katsuki Yuuri. He knew Yuuri and Viktor had been in contact with each other, Yuko was gushing about them, especially about the daily video chat Yuuri always had with Viktor. Nishigori didn’t see the problem since Viktor didn’t seem to be a distraction for Yuuri. If anything, the quality of the manga only increased significantly.

“Oh, that’s because Yuuri asked Viktor for some advice about the skating scenes and techniques,” Yuko explained to Nishigori when he asked. “And Viktor is also kind enough to take a video of himself doing specific routines Yuuri needed for his manga, for reference.”

Nishigori couldn’t complain. Besides, the friendship seemed to boost up Yuuri’s mood and made him happier. After that, Viktor came to Japan for a short few days because he wanted to attend Winter Comiket. Nishigori wasn’t sure what happened during his stay (Yuuri had finished his work earlier and told Nishigori to pick up the manuscript a day before Viktor’s arrival), but Yuuri looked a bit absent minded, yet still determined. Well, his work hadn’t suffered from it, so Nishigori respected Yuuri’s privacy. Nishigori and Yuko, along with their triplets; Axel, Lutz, and Loop (Nishigori wondered why he let his wife name their children), were watching the World Championship together (Nishigori recorded it for manga reference) and Viktor Nikiforov won another gold medal. Yuko was giggling when she showed Nishigori an Instagram post after the ceremony.

It was a picture of a flower bouquet and the gold medal, arranged around the second volume of  ‘On ICE!!!’ manga. He read the caption and smiled.

 

> Thank you for your support, @katsudon-kun sensei! This one is for you.
> 
> #worldchampionship #figureskating #katsukiyuuri #onice!!!manga

 

Nishigori started to wonder how deep this friendship went.

After the World Championship, Viktor came again to visit. This time it was longer. Yuuri asked Nishigori for a week off and told him he would finish his work beforehand. Viktor came to the ‘On ICE!!!’ event, causing a bit of ruckus with fans (apparently ‘On ICE!!!’ fans overlapped with Viktor Nikiforov’s), but other than that everything went well. Yuuri didn’t complain much about the sudden change of event, instead of just an autograph, Yuuri did a quick sketch as well. Still, everything was fine except for Yuuri’s sore wrist which quickly put under the cold compress patch.

Nishigori didn’t know what went on the week Viktor was in Japan, but apparently according to Viktor’s and Yuuri’s social media pages, they were going places like a pair of tourists. Until Yuuri’s break was finished, Viktor was still staying in Japan for another week. Nishigori often saw him hanging out in the studio, reading manga or watching anime on Yuuri’s TV. Yuuri seemed to give him a non-scale 8 cm height RX-78-2 Gundam plastic model that had 50 parts for Viktor to occupy him while Yuuri was working. Viktor seemed to enjoy it a lot and Yuuri gave him another model with a higher difficulty to assemble, a Mega-sized model of Char’s Zaku. It was weird to watch someone like Viktor Nikiforov assembling Gun-pla while talking to Yuuri about figure skating. It was almost bizarre.

Nishigori didn’t see anything different about their interactions, just two figure skating and anime otaku’s spending time together, while one of them was drawing manga. Nothing weird.

At least until Viktor had to return to St. Petersburg. Nishigori knew Yuuri would go with Viktor to send him off at the airport. What he didn’t expect was for his wife and Phichit to suddenly text him and tell him to check on Viktor’s Instagram.

He saw the latest post and the caption under it.

How could he miss this? Even Phichit and Yuko, who spent more time with Yuuri than Nishigori himself, didn’t know about it. Since when? Was it the day Viktor won the World Championship? During his longer stay in Japan? When?

So, when Phichit told him they should visit Yuuri, he tagged along. Besides, he had something to discuss about the latest name Yuuri showed him.

 

* * *

 

 

**Present.**

 

There was no doubt Viktor was in his top condition now, Yakov observed from the rinkside during the warm up. After his perfect performance during short program yesterday, Viktor was on a roll today. As usual, he kept doing his ridiculous lovey-dovey antics for his fiancé during warm up, no matter how many times Yakov told him to knock it off and warm up properly. His advice only entered the left ear and out the right. He even asked Yuuri to talk to Viktor about it, but this time, even Yuuri couldn’t stop him.

Yakov was somehow grateful that Viktor finally found someone. His skater was usually such an airhead and kept doing everything at his own pace without a care for anyone around him. Viktor was too selfish for his own good. How many times had he ignored Yakov’s lectures by fiddling with his phone. Yakov just ended up scolding him (and in the process he got ignored again).

Yakov remembered the time he scolded Viktor before his short program performance, his skater was reading something instead of focusing on his program. Yakov glared at the book Viktor was reading. Apparently it was some comic book in Japanese. _Since when could Vitya read Japanese_? Yakov mused. Viktor just smiled and set the book down when it was his turn on the ice. Yakov wondered why his skater looked more motivated today and relaxed. At first, he dismissed it as Viktor being Viktor, always one-upping  his own performance.

          But as the competition went on, Yakov started to see it. Viktor always read that Japanese comic (and after a while he knew Viktor started to learn Japanese to read the comic) before his performances. Yakov could guess, maybe it motivated him. Yakov started to pay attention to the book that could motivate his airhead skater, and realized it was about figure skating.

No wonder he got so hooked and felt so motivated.

And Yakov  knew better than to tell  him to stop.

After a while, he started to see how obsessed Viktor was about that figure skating comic. Yakov asked Mila about it, but even she didn’t know much. Yakov also saw Viktor was starting to learn Japanese from the Japanese skater in their rink. Yakov didn’t stop Viktor since his performance was still as good as ever and he didn’t seem to be distracted during practice.

The next year, Viktor got assigned for NHK Trophy again. Later, Yakov started to ask himself if he started to see the shift on Viktor’s mood. He still performed well, got himself the first place. Yakov told himself Viktor was fine.

Until the award ceremony and interview were finished and they walked out of the rink. Yakov lectured Viktor about his shaky start on free skate, but as usual, Viktor ignored him and began fiddling with his phone. Yakov didn’t care, he just kept talking in case Viktor changed his mind and started to listen. But Yakov yelled at Viktor and told him to listen to his coach for once. Viktor looked distracted, and Yakov prayed it wouldn’t affect him for the rest of the season. Suddenly Viktor screamed at his phone and started to run laps around the skating rink.

Yakov was worried; he was ready to call an ambulance. But Viktor started to calm down. He looked even more distraught when they returned to the hotel. He told Viktor to rest up and go to his own room. He called Yuri to check on Viktor, hoping the silver haired Russian would be more open talking to his junior. Yakov was getting ready to sleep when he heard the muffled scream from Viktor’s room next door. Yakov went to check on him asking if he needed to call an ambulance.

After that, the competition went on as usual. Viktor seemed to be calm now, no sign of a mental breakdown (was that a mental breakdown?) he had in Japan. Viktor spent a lot of time on his phone, even more than Yuri, Mila, and Georgi combined. Sometimes Yakov caught him talking to someone in a video chat and laughing happily.

He asked Yuri and Mila if Viktor had found himself a girlfriend. But apparently not. Mila told him it was a mangaka from Japan, the one that wrote the comic (manga, Viktor corrected him one day) that Viktor read religiously before his performance. Yakov sighed and didn’t stop Viktor. Maybe this mangaka could help Viktor and motivate him. Yakov only yelled if Viktor started to spend too much time on phone and slack off during practice.

Viktor did well in the Rostelecom Cup and won gold, sealing his deal to enter the Grand Prix Final. Yakov was proud of his student, but Viktor wasn’t look that happy to the seasoned coach.

But after Grand Prix Final, Viktor just left.

Yakov could guess what Viktor was thinking, from the forced smile when he received his gold medal in GPF. Viktor wasn’t that happy about his free skate performance. For other people, Viktor might look like he did it flawlessly, but Yakov had been his coach for years. He knew his skater so well, he could recognize the dissatisfied look on Viktor’s face after his ‘Stay Close to Me’ program. And after he watched it again, Yakov realized Viktor was missing something. He was in a slump.

When Yakov contacted him, Viktor had already left with his dog, going God knows where. He blocked Yakov’s number, was well as Yuri’s, Mila’s, and Georgi’s numbers. They had no idea where he went until Yuri told Yakov, that Viktor was in Japan. The young skater showed Yakov the Instagram photo Viktor posted. It was a selfie of Viktor with a Japanese man with dark hair and glasses, sitting in some restaurant (judging by the sight in the background). The location tagged was Tokyo and the man in the picture tagged as ‘katsudon-kun’. Mila informed him the Japanese man in the photo was the mangaka that Viktor always talked to on his phone.

At first, Yakov was ready to book the next plane ticket to Japan to knock some sense into Viktor. But seeing Viktor in the photo with his mangaka friend, Yakov decided to take a chance and let his student resolve his problems by himself. He knew the European Championship would start in a month, but Yakov could always throw extra training at Viktor to make up for it. _Vitya needs to overcome his slump by himself_ , Yakov told himself. And if it meant he had to run away all across the globe to meet his idol (Yakov knew how much Viktor idolized this mangaka), Yakov would let him be for now.

In the end, it only took a few days until Viktor returned. Yakov thought he would be gone longer. Yakov smiled proudly when he saw the determination on Viktor’s face when he came in the morning for practice.

“I’m going to skate and win gold for Yuuri,” he said to Yakov. Never before had Yakov seen him this serious about something. “I’m going to be a hero.”

And indeed he became a hero. In the World Championship, before his program, Yakov saw Viktor call someone on his phone, and since he was speaking in Japanese, Yakov could guess who it was. Viktor looked calm and confident when he skated on the ice, and take his position before the music started.

Yakov swore it was the best performance Viktor ever did in his career. The technique, the performance, everything was flawless. Everyone was in trance when they saw Viktor dance on the ice, even Yakov could feel the pride swell in his chest when he saw his airhead skater that was always forgetful and obnoxious, performed something as beautiful as this (Yakov might have teared up a bit, but refused to acknowledge it). His decision to let Viktor solve his problem in Japan was correct. Viktor had grown up more and more as a figure skater and as a human being.

So when the season was over, and Viktor asked him for two weeks’ vacation to Japan. Yakov let him leave as a reward for his performance in World Championship. Yakov knew he should thank Viktor’s mangaka friend for his help to give inspiration for Viktor (and he also found out Yuri was going to Japan as well, but returned early. Yakov couldn’t scold him since Yuri went off in the weekend when he was supposed to take a break).

And that day, Viktor was supposed to be on the returning flight to St. Petersburg when Mila, Georgi, and Yuri burst into his office. Mila looked extatic, Georgi looked happy, and Yuri looked annoyed.

“Yakov! Vitya got himself a boyfriend!” Mila squealed. He showed another Instagram post (seriously, Vitya, how come I only get news about your wellbeing from your Instagram posts?) Viktor just uploaded. It was another selfie of him and that mangaka, with Viktor kissing the mangaka’s cheek and the mangaka looked startled at the camera.

“Huh… I thought they were already lovers months ago…” Yakov said, looking deep in thought.

That was the first time Yakov knew about Viktor’s relationship with Katsuki Yuuri. After that, Yakov reminded Viktor to not get distracted, but instead of being distracted, Viktor only found a powerful motivation for his performance and Yakov could not be more proud at that. He tried to find out more about Yuuri, and found that the mangaka used to be a figure skater as well. Yuuri was nervous the first time he met Yakov when Viktor introduced them.

And Yakov couldn’t be more grateful that he met Yuuri. At least now, whenever Viktor wouldn’t listen to Yakov’s lecture, Yakov could get Yuuri, because Viktor always listened to his lover. Yakov couldn’t help but being happy for their relationship, no matter how ridiculous Viktor’s display of affection got.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two years ago.**

 

“Yuuri… tell us everything…”

Minako could be scary sometimes.

“How could you hide something like this from us…”

Phichit even let out fake tears for dramatic effects.

“So after all this time he was here, you two were already in a relationship?”

Yuko sounded calm, but Yuuri knew better than let it lower his guard.

“Did those Gun-pla Models you gave him have secret meaning behind them…?”

Nishigori looked at him darkly.

Yuuri wanted to scream. Damn you, Nikiforov! After telling the world about their new relationship status, he left Yuuri to deal with these busybodies with too much time to gossip around.

In the end, Yuuri told them everything.

 

 


	11. Awards and Medals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katsuki Yuuri decided he wanted to visit his boyfriend in St. Petersburg...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 11! I decided to publish this earlier because I planned on posting the new one-shot side-story for this AU. Please check it out once it published~!
> 
> Credits to my beta for her hardwork! (So, so, so sorry to forget to put this in the A/N )
> 
> If you guys have any suggestion for this AU, don't hesitate to tell me! I like to challenge myself~
> 
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated~
> 
> Thanks to locustalchemist for the wonderful fanart of Chapter 6 check it at: http://pandas-eat-pizza.tumblr.com/post/154930042264/art-for-the-fanfic-ink-on-ice-this-scene-is-from
> 
> Thank you so much! XD

 

**Two years ago.**

 

Viktor never knew being in a long distance relationship was this hard. Hell, he never knew being in a relationship could be this hard. Sure, Viktor had his fair share of lovers before, but Viktor had never felt like this. He was longing for Yuuri. He had only kissed Yuuri once. Once! It wasn’t enough. Viktor wanted more. He wanted to wake up next to Yuuri every morning with his arms wrapped around Yuuri’s warm body. He wanted to kiss Yuuri whenever he wanted to. He wanted to run his fingers through Yuuri’s soft hair. He wanted to do naughty things to Yuuri—

His mind short-circuited at the thought, and he whimpered pitifully in the middle of practice.

“Vitya, focus!” Yakov yelled at him.

“I want Yuuri!!” Viktor whined childishly, causing everyone to snicker. They all knew the tragic relationship between the two lovers who were being forced to stay apart by the ocean (as Viktor would put it despite having a video chat for hours with Yuuri every day). Sometimes, they swore Viktor could be worse than Georgi and his break-up-make-up relationship with the ice dancer named Anya. Georgi was more vocal than Viktor, though. Viktor would just get really gloomy until he broke down and started to yell his feelings, (maybe he was hoping Yuuri would hear it in Tokyo if Viktor shouted loud enough).

After the yell, everyone knew what Viktor would do, so they stayed clear of the ice because Viktor would start his ‘Stay Close to Me’ routine without care.

“Vitya! Practice for your short program!” Yakov yelled at the silver haired skater, but Viktor simply ignored him and continued his ‘Stay Close to Me’ routine. Viktor decided not to listen. Yuri, who was already used to this situation, decided to call Yuuri.

“Oi, Viktor! Yuuri is calling!” Yuri shouted at Viktor. Everyone watched as Viktor stopped with a stupid smile on his face, as he skated over to Yuri and took his phone from the blond skater.

“Yuuri!” Viktor said happily.

“ _Hello, Viktor,_ ” Yuuri greeted him back.

“It’s Vitya, Yuuri!”

“ _Okay, Vitya. So, Yurio told me you didn’t listen to your coach, and you’re slacking off during practice,_ ” Yuuri said, there was a genuine disappointment in his voice. “ _Why do you do that?_ ”

“Because I miss Yuuri so much,” Viktor sighed. He didn’t care that Yuuri was talking on speaker phone right now, so everyone could hear him.

“ _I miss you too, Vitya. I’m doing my best with work here, so I want you to do his best as well, okay? And you can’t do your best in competition if you’re slacking off during practice. Remember how hard Rin had to train before he could skate in Grand Prix?_ ” Yuuri said gently.

Viktor nodded. “Yeah.”

“ _So, let’s do our best. I’ll come to cheer you on at your competition, okay? I’ll bring flowers too_ ,” Yuuri coaxed him softly. “ _And listen to Coach Yakov, he wants only the best for you._ ”

It was quite a sight to see the pure smile bloom on Viktor’s face whenever he talked to his boyfriend. Except for Yuri, no one had ever met Katsuki Yuuri face-to-face. But seeing how he interacted with Viktor, how good he was  at handling the silver haired skater to practice properly, everyone got curious and they started to read ‘On ICE!!!’ as well, and got hooked. They were still waiting for the anime, and even had planned for the public viewing once it got released. Viktor was happy he had a lot of friends he could go to  and talk (or gush) about ‘On ICE!!!’ (but still, he was the only one who was really interested on other manga or anime—with the exception for Yuri Plisetsky, of course).

The call finally ended and Viktor returning the phone to Yuri. He skated quickly to Yakov and politely apologized for disrupting the practice. Yakov was taken aback at first, especially when Viktor started to listen to him and practiced diligently.

Yakov wondered if he should send flowers as a ‘thank you’ gift for Viktor’s new lover.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri never thought of himself as the overly dramatic one in his  relationship with Viktor. He’d like to think of himself as the adult in the fairly new relationship, but even though he tried to be mature, he still wanted to see Viktor. The apartment felt a lot emptier since Viktor had returned to St. Petersburg. Sure, Yuuri had Phichit, Minako, Yuko, and Nishigori dropping by for work, but after they left, he was alone. His eyes would sweep the room until it settled on the Gun-pla Viktor had assembled during his stay. The Char’s Zaku that still hadn’t been finished, but Yuuri didn’t bother to finish it. As if it was a promise that Viktor would return to finish it when he came to Japan.

Yuuri called Viktor from time to time, asking about his day. Viktor would start to tell Yuuri everything and Yuuri just smiled as he listened to his boyfriend talking. Yuuri knew sometimes that Viktor would be so frustrated with their long distance relationship, he would skate to ‘Stay Close to Me’ out of nowhere, disrupting everyone’s practice. At time like this, Yurio would call Yuuri to talk to Viktor and calme him down (Yakov was a Saint to be able to deal with Viktor’s antics all these years).

But Yuuri never told Viktor what he did when he felt lonely. When he felt lonely, Yuuri would go to his Viktor Nikiforov shrine and stare at it for hours. Then he would go to his TV and put on one of Viktor’s videos  and cuddle up on the couch and start to binge eat (which he quickly lost the weight  from all-nighters). And he would get all gloomy for the rest of the day until Viktor called him. Then Yuuri would light up like the sun, and bloomed prettily (Phichit’s words, not his).

It was hard having this kind of relationship. He regretted not doing things faster when Viktor was still in Japan. They only gone as far as a kiss, maybe some hugs and hand-holdings, and that time they cuddled on the couch watching late-night anime. But that was it! They never went on a proper date… and he had to wait up until this season started so he could see Viktor, unless…

Yuuri grinned. He knew what to do!

He grabbed his papers and pencil before he started a new name for the new arc of his manga.

 

* * *

 

 

“ _So, I will come to St. Petersburg for two weeks_ ,” Yuuri said proudly on the phone, Viktor was taking a break from practice. “ _The Chief Editor thought it was a great idea too, since I will need a lot of reference about ice skating in Russia for Alexei’s Past arc_ …”

“That’s great news, Yuuri! I’ll talk to Yakov and see if  you can  watch our practice,” Viktor said happily, almost jumping and twirling on the bench he was sitting on. “I’m glad I can be with you again. Let’s go on a date once you get here, okay?” Viktor smiled stupidly.

“ _Of course_ ,” Yuuri said happily on  the phone. “ _I’ll text you my flight schedule. Can’t wait to see you…_ ”

“Can’t wait to see you too, Yuuri,” Viktor said gently to the phone. “I love you.”

“ _I love you too, Vitya…_ ” Yuuri mumbled cutely over the phone.

The call ended, and Viktor just sat there on the bench. When Yakov told everyone break was over, Viktor was still staring blankly at nothing, Yakov called his name, but it was Yuri who snapped him back to reality by throwing his hand towel at Viktor.

“Yurio! Why—?” Viktor whined.

“Stop daydreaming about your boyfriend and start practicing!” the younger skater yelled.

Viktor huffed and put his cell phone down before he stepped into the rink again, this time he listened to Yakov as the older coach was  reviewing his progress so far. Viktor was hoping Yuuri could get here sooner.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri finally landed in Pulkovo International Airport after spending hours, flying  from Tokyo to Moscow and from Moscow to St. Petersburg. He wondered how Viktor and Yurio could do that just to attend some manga fair in Japan (but then again Yuuri did it to meet his boyfriend and of course, for work). He got his suitcase and dragged it to the terminal exit, looking around trying to find the familiar silver hair of Viktor’s. It didn’t take long, when he heard someone call  his name.

“Yuuri!” Viktor waved and smiled brightly.

“Vitya!” Yuuri ran to Viktor and hugged him tight.

“I miss you, Yuuri,” Viktor mumbled into the Japanese man’s hair gently. He ran his fingers through the soft hair gently. “How was your flight?”

“It was nice. Too bad the editorial department only pays for coach, not first class,” Yuuri laughed. “But I’m glad I can finally see you.”

Viktor laughed and pulled Yuuri to his car, and helped him with his suitcase. Once they got inside, Viktor pulled Yuuri closer for a chaste kiss. Yuuri smiled and kissed him back before the two of them giggled like high school girls, with their faces flushed red.

“I want to ask you on a date right now, but I think you will be too tired after such a long flight,” Viktor said. “How about we just go back to my apartment now so you can rest, and we can go on a date tomorrow?” Viktor asked, feeling giddy at the thought that Yuuri was really with him right now. “Also, I have talked to Yakov, and you can watch the practice whenever you want to. You can ask him anything about skating while you’re here.”

Yuuri blinked. “Well, that’s… really kind of him?” Yuuri always thought Yakov was a grumpy old man, and would never let Yuuri watch the practice or do anything.

“I know right? Everyone was surprised!” Viktor laughed. “We can have takeout for dinner if you’re not in the mood to going out.”

“Okay,” Yuuri nodded. He knew Viktor was never much of a cook, it made him wonder how Viktor could survive his adult life all this time. “Or… I can cook for you?” Yuuri offered, “I mean, all I need is ingredients…”

“But I can’t let you do that! Yuuri must be really tired right now, I can’t have you cook dinner. Let’s just order takeout, and Yuuri can cook as much as you want once you’re fully rested,” Viktor patted Yuuri’s head.

Yuuri finally gave up. He was tired after the flight, and all he wanted now was just to sleep in a warm bed.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri had fun during his stay in St. Petersburg. He loved Viktor’s apartment and Makkachin. Viktor always had an early morning schedule by walking Makkachin while Yuuri stayed in the apartment, trying to wake himself up. After Viktor came back, the half-asleep Yuuri would help with breakfast (Viktor offered to handle the knife and all other dangerous things since sleepy Yuuri was not the most coordinated person on the planet, and Yuuri gave instructions while dozing off). After that, they would head down to the skating rink together, where Viktor dragged Yuuri around the place and introduced him to everyone (including the janitors).

Everyone was nice to him. He got along well with Mila. Yurio was being an adorable tsundere, he was always watching Yuuri, who sat on the rink side with his drawing pad in hand while talking to Yakov about training regiments and facilities. Viktor would always do something ridiculous when he felt Yuuri wasn’t paying enough attention to him, which resulted with Yakov yelling at him to focus on his program. Viktor would immediately return to practice once he saw Yuuri’s disapproving look, and he focused on practice.

After the practice was done, they would go out for lunch. Sometimes Yurio, Mila, and Georgi would join them; sometimes it was just Viktor and Yuuri. Viktor made Yuuri try every single dish in St. Petersburg, and pulled him into his favorite café (Yuuri swore his face got rounder once he got back to Japan). After dinner, Yuuri would stay up and cuddle up to Viktor while working on his name and Viktor was watching anime re-runs.

It was a blast. Yuuri got his work done, and he could spend time with his boyfriend and watch him skate so beautifully. Yuuri felt blessed. Until one day, during a break in skating practice, Mila asked him bluntly,

“Yuuri, have you had sex with Vitya?”

Yuuri spit out his sports drink and coughed violently which made everyone turn their heads towards him. Viktor even skated over to check on Yuuri, looking all paniced and worried. Yuuri managed to calm his boyfriend down and told Viktor he was fine and Viktor should return to his practice. Mila only smiled guitily at Yuuri.

“Looking at your reaction, probably you haven’t,” she grinned.

“You can’t ask people about it just like that!” Yuuri was blushing bright red.

“Why? I’m your big sister!” Mila patted Yuuri’s head.

“I’m older than you,” Yuuri mumbled.

“But you’re cuter.”

Yuuri pouted and sighed. Yuuri was at least two years older than Mila, but the Russian female skater always treated him like her little brother. Even Yurio treated him as if he was younger than that Russian fairy, it was ridiculous. When Yuuri told Viktor, the older male just laughed and patted Yuuri’s hair happily.

 

* * *

 

 

“Mila, what did you say to Yuuri yesterday?” Viktor was in a foul mood when he showed up to practice the next day.

Mila looked up to her rink mate with a guilty smile on her face. “Uh… I didn’t say anything…?” she offered an answer.

“No. Clearly you said something yesterday. I saw you two talking during break,” Viktor pouted. “What did you talk about?”

“Nothing important. Did something happen?” Mila asked. She noticed Yuuri was sitting alone on one corner of the rink side, clearly avoiding Viktor.

“Yesterday, I asked Yuuri to sleep together, but he slammed the door right in my face! He never reacted that way before! Usually, Yuuri would blush and stutter, and he would say ‘no’ before closing his bedroom door! He never slammed it in my face…” Viktor whined. “And when I tried to cuddle him on the couch like usual, he pushed me away and ran to his room…!”

Mila’s eyes widened. She glanced at Yuuri who was now talking to Yurio normally and even smiled at the young skater, which made Viktor’s eyes burn with jealousy and sadness.

“Fine, it’s my fault!” Mila accepted it. “I asked Yuuri if he ever had sex with you,” Mila said simply.

Viktor blinked before his face exploded in a bright red color. “Wh-Why did you even ask him that?!”

“Because I was curious! I mean, you two have been dating for what… a month? Two? I know you’re in a long distance relationship, and it was hard for you two to meet each other, so I got curious and asked him…”

Viktor sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. “Mila, I don’t want to push him like that. All we have done were cuddles, kisses, hugs, holding hands, and such. I haven’t even talk to Yuuri about it,” Viktor took a deep breath. “I want to do this at a pace Yuuri is more comfortable with. And if Yuuri told me he wanted to wait until marriage, then I wouldn’t complain.”

“And if Yuuri wanted it soon…?”

“Then I’ll be happy to do it whenever he wanted it,” Viktor smiled. “Besides, Yuuri is a virgin.”

“How’d you know that? You said you haven’t talked about sex with him,” Mila raised an eyebrow.

“Mila, look at him,” Viktor nodded at Yuuri, who was talking to Yurio and laughing at something the Russian skater did, while Yurio was huffing angrily, “and tell me he is not a virgin.”

Mila blinked and nodded. “Yup. Definitely a virgin.”

“See?”

 

* * *

 

**Present**

 

Viktor enjoyed the quiet morning after the competition where he could spend hours with Yuuri in bed. He always woke up earlier than Yuuri, so he loved spending time  just staring  at Yuuri’s sleeping face. Yuuri was cute when he was deeply asleep. Even cuter than his half-asleep stating  Viktor saw every morning. Yuuri was perfect and Viktor loved him so much.

The silver haired male pulled Yuuri closer to himself gently. Viktor smiled when he realized they were still naked under the covers after their little celebration last night. Viktor’s fingers slowly traced the marks he left on Yuuri last night and smiled proudly. His Yuuri was so cute, but he was also sexy as hell in bed. Viktor was the luckiest man on earth.

“Yuuri… wake up…” Viktor whispered in his ear softly.

Yuuri let out a grumbling noise and drove himself further into the pillow.

“Yuuri…” Viktor whispered again.

Yuuri mumbled incoherently in his sleep. He only rolled slightly and clung onto Viktor’s waist while hiding his face in the Russian man’s chest. Viktor sighed and smiled gently, rubbing Yuuri’s cheek and kissing his hair.

“Yuuri is just too cute right now,” Viktor whispered softly. “I want to be with like this forever…” he sighed, rubbing circles on the small of Yuuri’s back. “I’m really happy I met you, Yuuri. You’re so perfect—“

“Viktor… ‘too  ‘rly… sleep…” Yuuri mumbled.

“Okay, okay, Princess,” Viktor laughed and curled around Yuuri protectively.

He just wanted to stay like this forever.

 


	12. One-shot and Short Program

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor Nikiforov and Katsuki Yuuri talked. And Katsuki Yuuri met other skaters...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12! I'm so happy~ Thank you for everyone who had been reading and following this story! Especially all your kudos and comments... they make me so happy XD
> 
> Thanks for my beta to proofread this chapter as well^^
> 
> There's something that I would like to address here, regarding smut. I will NOT write smut in this story, so the rating wouldn't change. Will I ever write the smut someday? Maybe. But for now, I'm still uncomfortable writing it, but who knows in the near future I might feel like it ^_^
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, and feel free to leave comments and kudos!

**Two years ago.**

Viktor hated it when Yuuri was avoiding him. They didn’t fight, but Viktor could sense that Yuuri was uncomfortable around him. And Viktor knew why. They hadn’t brought it up yet, even after they spent their silent dinner together. It was unnerving, and all Viktor wanted to do was to pull Yuuri into a hug. The day of Yuuri’s departure to Japan was coming closer each second that passed between them. Viktor didn’t want him to leave on a bitter note. Their only chance to meet again would be in Grand Prix, _if_ Yuuri would still come and watch him compete.  

Maybe Yuuri would decide to breakup with him now.

Viktor watched in silence as Yuuri worked on his name to be faxed to Nishigori tomorrow. Viktor still tried to convince himself they didn’t exactly fight. They were just having the awkward silence that came up when avoiding talking about _it_. Viktor sighed as he sat on the couch, anime played on the TV on a low volume. Viktor wasn’t particularly interested, so he turned to Yuuri who sat on the opposite side of the couch.

“Yuuri, let’s talk,” Viktor said to him gently.

Yuuri looked up from his work, towards Viktor with a slight blush on his face.

“S-sure,” Yuuri nodded. He slowly set down his paper and pencil, and turned to Viktor. The younger male was looking down on his lap, trying to avoid Viktor’s gaze towards him.

Viktor sighed softly, and put his fingers under Yuuri’s chin and pushed up gently until their gazes met, Viktor could feel Yuuri’s warm breath on his face. “Yuuri, I know why you’ve been avoiding me,” Viktor said gently. “Mila told me about your conversation with her a few days ago…”

Yuuri blushed bright red, and turned his head away in embarrassment. “Vi… tya…”

“Every day has been awkward since then… And I thought… I really don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Viktor said slowly. “When Yuuri agreed to be my boyfriend, it made me so happy.   I promised myself that I would make Yuuri the happiest man on earth. But right now, Yuuri doesn’t look happy. I understand why you’re so uncomfortable about sex, and I don’t want to push you…” Viktor smiled. “I want you to be happy, and if Yuuri decides he will  be happier if we never have sex, then we can do it.”

Viktor entwined their fingers together, making sure it was gentle enough so that it wouldn’t spook Yuuri. “Just being with Yuuri like this already made me so happy,” he lifted Yuuri’s hands and kissed them gently.

“I… It’s not like I don’t want to…” Yuuri mumbled. “But… I’m not sure I’m ready yet…” Yuuri bit his lip nervously.. “I’ve never had sex before… and I’m afraid Vitya would disappointed with me if he knew,” Yuuri was blushing bright red. “I just want to be with you forever.”

Viktor smiled lovingly, and pulled Yuuri into a hug. “Then let’s wait until you are comfortable! Even if it takes years, it’s fine!” Viktor rubbed his cheek against Yuuri’s cheek happily. “But can we have more cuddles now? I feel abandoned without Yuuri’s warm cuddles…”

“Sure, sure… anything for you.”

 

* * *

 

**Present.**

 

Yuuri stood in front of the mirror, and frowned, examining his body. “Viktor you left another mark…” he mumbled when he saw the red bite mark planted on his neck. Yuuri sighed, now noticing that Viktor had already left, probably for a jog in the morning, since it took hours for Yuuri to be properly awake. Yuuri put on a shirt (a bit big, so it must be Viktor’s) and padded his way around the room to find his phone. He tapped the screen a few times and called Viktor.

“Yuuri! Are you awake, now?” Viktor’s voice sounded cheerful over the phone.

“Yes,” Yuuri said, before curling up on the bed by himself. Viktor’s side was already cold since the silver haired male left really early for his jog. “Where are you?” Yuuri mumbled, feeling extra needy this morning. Why did Viktor always have to jog?

“Jogging. I bought breakfast for you. Can you order coffee for us? I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Viktor said over the phone.

“Okay. Be quick,” Yuuri yawned.

“Sure, _Kotyonok_ ,” Viktor said.

The call ended, and Yuuri yawned. He reached for the phone on the bedside table and pressed the number for room service. He ordered two cups of coffee for both him and Viktor, before he curled back on the bed comfortably. He stared at his phone, seeing that Nishigori had texted him about the manuscript, asking if it was okay and asked about his flight schedule tomorrow. Yuuri replied quickly. He opened Instagram and saw that #viktuuri had become famous again (Phichit’s idea. Especially that one time the #viktuuri became trending on Twitter), mostly with the photos of Yuuri and Viktor’s post-award kiss and hug.

The coffee arrived before Viktor did. Yuuri set them on the table and waited for Viktor. He was bored, so he snapped a picture of the steaming cups of coffee (he tried to make them look artsy) and posted them on Instagram.

 

 

> Viten’ka, #coffee is waiting
> 
> #grandprixfinal #morning

 

Yuuri waited for Viktor sleepily.  He laid his head on the bed again, and slowly fell back into slumber…

Only to be woken up by the warm touch on his cheek, and the smiling Viktor in front of him. “Sorry I took too long, Yuuri. I brought bagels for breakfast!”

Yuuri smiled and got up slowly, wrapping his arms around Viktor’s waist, before burying his face into his chest sleepily. “The coffee is getting cold…” he sulked.

“Sorry about that…”

“You should buy me an extra-large frappe with ice cream on top… and cherry too…”

“Okay, Princess.:”

“And I want those cute cupcakes with cute frosting…”

“Sure, Princess.”

“And katsudon too… Don’t forget the katsudon…”

“Your wish is my command.”

 

* * *

 

**One year ago.**

 

Yuuri was nervously biting his lip. It was his first time being on the rink side for a skating competition after his retirement years ago. He looked really shy, as he glanced around.  He could see famous skaters and their coaches walking around, and doing stretches. He stuck to Viktor and Yakov, afraid he might bother these people. Viktor didn’t seem to mind as he stretched. Yakov gave him last minute instructions, which Yuuri was sure, were being ignored by Viktor.

“I thought I was going to watch you from the spectator's’ seat, Vitya, not from the rink side,” Yuuri sighed and looked at his boyfriend in exasperation.

“It’s Yakov’s idea,” Viktor said simply. “He thought having you here where I can see you would give me a lot more motivation to perform the best I can,” Viktor smiled and patted Yuuri’s head. “Besides, Yakov told me you’re practically my coach as well, because I only listen to you apparently,” Viktor laughed.

Yuuri sighed. “You should stop giving him a hard time, Vitya. Yakov only wants the best for you,” Yuuri said softly.

“Yes, _kotyonok_ ,” Viktor pecked his lips and went to the ice to start his warm up.

Yuuri blushed, and felt his cheeks start  to heat up with a bright blush. He could feel the other skaters and coaches looking at him because Viktor Nikiforov just casually kissed him. Yuuri scooted closer to Yakov.

“Oh! Katsuki Yuuri-sensei!”

Yuuri blinked when he heard an unfamiliar voice call him. He looked around until he found the source. Minami Kenjirou was waving at him excitedly. Yuuri remembered he was the Japan representative for Grand Prix Series this year.

“Minami-san…” Yuuri smiled, and bowed politely.

“I can’t believe Katsuki-sensei is here! Are you here as Viktor’s moral support? I want to congratulate you on the anime, Sensei! It was wonderful,” Minami started to gush over Yuuri’s manga, and its anime adaptation until his coach came and scolded him for not warming up. “Sensei! Let’s talk again later!” he waved happily.

Yuuri watched until the warm up had finished, and Viktor joined him again. “You were talking to Kenjirou?” he asked happily.

“Uh… yeah. I’m surprised he knows me,” Yuuri flushed in embarrassment.

“Everyone in skating community pretty much knows about you,” Viktor smiled and pulled Yuuri into a one arm hug. “Yuuri’s work is pretty popular, especially right now with the manga being translated and the anime being broadcast everywhere— Chris…!” Viktor called the tall blond skater, that Yuuri quickly recognized as Christophe Giacometti from Switzerland.

“Viktor!” Chris smiled and walked towards them. “And is this whom I think it is…?”

“Yeah,”  Viktor nodded proudly.  “This is Yuuri Katsuki, the mangaka for ‘On ICE!!!’ _and_ my boyfriend.”

Yuuri blushed at the possessive tone in Viktor’s voice, as he introduced Yuuri to Chris. He shook Chris’ hand politely and mumbled a ‘nice to meet you’. Yuuri was a bit star struck, meeting famous figure skaters like this. And soon, other skaters flocked around them and Viktor was busy gushing about his boyfriend, and introducing Yuuri to everyone. Most of them already knew about the anime and the manga, and they were happy that they could finally meet the creator of such gorgeous manga and anime.

“Isn’t he wonderful? Yuuri choreographed all the characters’ programs, you know!” Viktor, being a proud boyfriend kept praising Yuuri happily.

“Oh? Maybe I should ask Yuuri to choreograph my program next year,” Chris threw him a flirtatious smile that made Yuuri shudder. “You did a really good job!” he winked.

The tension started once the first skater was called to the ice. Yuuri watched them carefully, as if it were his job. He pulled his phone out and took pictures for reference, while Viktor stretched and practiced. It was different from when he watched the skaters, who were all being friendly earlier. Now they looked more serious and intense. Yuuri gulped and took note of this atmosphere. Everyone was so focused. Even Viktor.

It had been a while since the last time he felt the same tension, but this time, Yuuri was here as a spectator (or as Yakov would say, Viktor’s unofficial second coach). Suddenly he missed the feeling of being the one to skate on the ice. He still remembered how Celestino would say encouraging words to him because Yuuri knew he could easily get anxious in this situation.

He snapped back to reality once he heard Viktor’s name being called. Viktor took off his jacket and wrapped it around Yuuri’s shoulders gently.

“Wish me luck, Yuuri,” he kissed Yuuri’s forehead.

“G-good luck, Vitya,” Yuuri muttered softly.

Viktor grinned as he stepped onto the ice. The silver haired skater glanced at Yuuri one last time,  before  he got into position.

And Yuuri’s heart swelled up with pride when he watched Viktor dancing on the ice.

 

* * *

 

Viktor was happy. This year, he would do his best for Yuuri.

The mangaka looked flustered on the rink side with the other skaters around, and Viktor knew Yuuri already knew their names since his boyfriend was a skating otaku. And Viktor couldn’t help it when he wanted to show off his boyfriend to everyone. Yuuri was the most beautiful and talented person Viktor knew.

After the anime was aired in the summer, it had taken everyone by surprise. Viktor knew how much his peers in figure skating had started to put interest in the anime. Chris kept texting Viktor asking him what would happen next, and if could he borrow Viktor’s manga. It quickly gained popularity, and Viktor couldn’t be happier knowing the brain behind that masterpiece was his cute little Katsudon-kun who loved to cover himself in compress patches after his deadline.

He would give Yuuri only the best performance.

Viktor smiled as the familiar [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7maJOI3QMu0) played. He started to move gracefully.  His theme this year would be ‘first love’ (which made Yurio gag when Viktor told everyone about it). Viktor didn’t care. He liked the theme, and he knew why he specifically chose it. His eyes searched for Yuuri when he prepared for a quad lutz. Yakov sighed and nodded, knowing all too well to just follow Viktor’s decision. Besides, Viktor always produced his own programs, including finding someone to compose music for him.

It didn’t take long for Viktor to finish his short program and start to work on the free program. He even asked Yuuri, having the mangaka put some input here and there. At first, Yuuri was reluctant, saying he wasn’t a skater. But Viktor knew Yuuri had the skill to choreograph a mesmerizing routine. Phichit told Viktor about the anime development where Yuuri was choreographing all the programs for the characters while professional skaters and high profile faces of JSF evaluated it. This anime was being taken seriously; no wonder the professional athletes themselves appreciated it.

And when the anime started in fall, everyone was excited. Viktor still felt bad he couldn’t attend the promotional event in summer. From what he heard, Yuuri was invited as a guest to the event and had a small talk with the voice actors and producers as well. Viktor was ready to jump on the next flight to Tokyo with Yurio, but Yakov caught them and locked them up in his house. He only let them out for practice until the Summer Event was over and Yuuri scolded them both for making Yakov’s job harder.

Viktor sulked for two days because his boyfriend cared more about his coach than Viktor himself, but he couldn’t handle not talking to Yuuri for too long, he relented and called Yuuri while sobbing pitifully. In Japan, Yuuri was sobbing as well when he talked to Viktor, it was ridiculous.

Viktor was lost in his thought as he went through his choreography. His mind filled with Yuuri. The dates, the hugs, the soft kisses, the cuddles, Viktor loved every single one of them. The way Yuuri’s face flushed when Viktor kissed him, or the gentle smile on Yuuri’s face when they cuddled on the couch in Viktor’s apartment.

It was shy, hesitant, but there was the same longing, wanting to be with one person you loved. Viktor told the story of his first true love. He had been neglecting this part of him in pursuit of his figure skating career. Yuuri was a fresh breeze coming to his life. And after more than twenty years, Viktor dared to say it to the world, Yuuri was his first love.

And his last.

Because Viktor knew he couldn’t love someone as much as he loved Yuuri. He didn’t care that people said their relationship had developed too fast, but he knew he loved Yuuri. And the most wonderful thing was Yuuri loved him too. Viktor smiled as he jumped for combinations, then  entered the step sequence. Viktor might had already fallen in love the first time he read the manga. No matter how ridiculous it sounded. He might have  fallen in love the first time he saw Yuuri, and offered that commemorative photo. He might have fallen in love from the short time they spend knowing each other through social media and video call. He might have fallen in love when he ran away to Japan to meet Yuuri. He might have  falllen in love when Yuuri skated his program ‘Stay Close to Me’.

He didn’t care, because in the end, he fell in love with his little katsudon.

But they hadn’t had sex yet… Viktor could feel the landing of his triple Axel was a bit shaky at this thought. He quickly recovered and put his mind back on track. Surely, Yakov would yell at him. And Yuuri would tell him to listen to Yakov. His coach was smart, bringing Yuuri to the rink side, Viktor’s eyes caught a glimpse of Yuuri cheering for him, his heart soared as he entered the last combination spin.

This was all for Yuuri!

He panted softly when the music ended. He smiled, and bowed down, waving as his fans began throwing poodle plushies and flowers on the ice. He grabbed one of the plushies and skated over to Kiss and Cry where Yuuri and Yakov were waiting for him. Viktor smiled brightly and hugged Yuuri while Yakov began asking him about his shaky landing. The old coach let it pass this time since this was only the first tournament. Yuuri looked proud as the three of them sat in Kiss and Cry, waiting for Viktor’s scores.

Another one with over a hundred points, it easily put him in the first place for short program. Yuuri kissed his cheek and congratulate him. Viktor laughed and kissed his lips instead.

He would win again this year. This time, it was for Yuuri.

 

* * *

 

The first time Christophe Giacometti met Katsuki Yuuri, he thought the younger Japanese man was cute. He might look plain with that generic hairstyle and nerdy glasses, but the way Viktor looked at his boyfriend made Chris change his mind, because Viktor looked at Katsuki Yuuri as if he was the most beautiful being on earth. Katsuki Yuuri might be beautiful, even though the man himself seemed to be unaware of it, but Chris always found that kind of beauty  alluring.

No wonder Viktor Nikiforov was smitten with the unassuming cutie.

He watched with a small smile on his face, enjoying the way Viktor carried himself around Yuuri. It was sweet how the great Viktor Nikiforov, the Russia Living Legend, puffed his chest a bit more, and wanted to keep Katsuki Yuuri’s attention to himself. That man was absolutely in love with the Japanese male.

Chris knew Yuuri was a wonderful man, and a talented one too. He might not be an otaku like Viktor, but he liked Yuuri’s manga and its anime adaptation. He had fun reading them, and watching the anime; two things he never knew he would do before. Chris had posted a few comments about ‘On ICE!!!’ in his social media. He adored the show and he shamelessly commented that Himuro Rin was his favorite character.

And now, here he was, in the first assignment of the Grand Prix Series, with Viktor showing off his boyfriend (though there were still debating in various social media and forums about whether they were really boyfriends or not) to everyone. But Chris knew better. It was fun watching the two interact with each other, and the Swiss skater couldn’t help but feel happy Viktor finally found his ‘two L-words’.

Well, the media would have new headlines with that kiss though. Chris reminded himself to congratulate Viktor later

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Viktor's Short Program music was "River Flows in You" by Yiruma because I love that song.
> 
> Don't forget to check out other stories in this AU~


	13. Crossover and Combination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the #viktuuri became so popular, and also there was the banquet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13! Only one more chapter to go and the epilogue! Thank you so much for the support so far! You guys are awesome~!
> 
> Thank you for your hard work, my sweet Beta! *hugs*
> 
> If you have ideas for this AU, feel free to tell me~! I'd love to hear some suggestion! XD
> 
> Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  
**One year ago.**

 

  
  
Yuuri loved being there to support Viktor. He loved standing on the rink side, watching Viktor move smoothly across the ice, sometimes wondering what was going on in his mind when he skated. Viktor was beautiful, on and off the ice. Phichit once told him, that Viktor looked like prince charming from the fairy tales, and Yuuri couldn’t deny it. Viktor’s costume, glittering under the lights in the rink made him shine. It would look gaudy on anyone else, but Viktor could wear a newspaper as shirt and still look amazing.

  
Yuuri could feel his heart pounding as Viktor glided smoothly, before taking off for a quad flip. It was beautiful, and Yuuri knew he could look at Viktor’s skating for hours and not get bored. Yuuri blushed lightly when Victor glanced at him and smiled, it was serene, he was diving deeper into his performance. Never before had Yuuri felt such a strong  itch to grab a pencil and paper, and start to sketch. Viktor was perfect, and he was Yuuri’s. By some weird miracle and coincidence, he was Yuuri’s lover.

  
Lover.  
  
Even the thought of it still made him flustered. They were lovers. Viktor had skated up to him in the Kiss and Cry, and he literally kissed Yuuri’s lips after he got his scores. Yuuri remembered the camera was flashing in their faces, and the commentators said something he didn’t catch. Yuuri covered his face in embarrassment while Viktor just smiled proudly.

  
It was ridiculous. Their relationship was still relatively new, and they have never gone further than kisses and cuddles. Most of their relationship had been spent on calling each other, video chats late at night (and afternoon in Viktor’s place), early morning, during breaks, whenever they could. Viktor was sweet, asking Yuuri whether he had eaten or not, sharing his days with Yuuri. Usually Yuuri would tell him about his days as well, including the anime adaptation developments. Viktor was excited and easily agreed to help anyway he could.

  
He never felt this way before. Well, to tell the truth, Yuuri had never been in a relationship before. Sure, he had crushes when he was younger, but then things happened and he never really thought about it anymore. Until Viktor swooped in, being the otaku he was, obsessed over Yuuri’s manga, and later, obsessed about the mangaka himself. They became friends and soon, the relationship developed into this.  
  
It was fast, but Yuuri didn’t care. Was it love at first sight? Was it something else? Yuuri didn’t care. He cheered with everyone when Viktor landed all his quads perfectly and went to the last combination spin.  
  
It was perfect.

  
When he greeted Viktor in the Kiss and Cry, he smiled brightly and hugged the skater. He could feel Viktor smiling, and buried his face in Yuuri’s hair.

  
Viktor was Yuuri’s hero, and he also Yuuri’s lover.

  
And he loved him so much.

  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Viktor was waking up to the sound of his phone buzzing on the bedside table. He yawned tiredly and smiled, as he saw Yuuri curling up in his sleep. He grabbed his phone and saw that it was Yurio’s number. He picked up the phone lazily.

  
“Yurio? Why are you calling me so early in the morning…?” Viktor mumbled sleepily.

  
“ _Have you checked the news? Your statement during the press conference has become headlines_ ,” Yurio’s voice sounded pissed.

  
“Statement…? What statement…?” Viktor asked.

  
“ _Just… check the news_ ,” with that, Yurio hung up.

  
Viktor rubbed his head and glanced once again at the sleeping Yuuri. He won gold yesterday, Viktor smiled. He won gold and he made Yuuri proud. He only managed to hug Yuuri once before he was ushered to the interview, mostly asking about his skating and his theme for this season. Viktor remembered he saw Yuuri and Yakov waiting, out of the eyes of the media.

  
He remembered one of the reporters asking him for his reason behind his ‘first love’ theme. Viktor smiled as he tapped the screen of his phone to find the news that Yurio mentioned. His smile only got wider when he saw the headlines. Well, there was already a debate amongst his fans these past few months whether Viktor was dating Yuuri or not. Some said yes, referring to the selfies Viktor took with Yuuri and the #love Viktor put on their pictures. Some were still convinced they were just a really good friends (who apparently went on a date and cuddling… But then again, Viktor knew Yuuri would cuddle anything warm when he was too tired to think properly). Now, when Viktor officially announced his relationship to the reporter during the interview yesterday, the #viktuuri tag suddenly became trending on various social medias.

  
The articles were also talking about Yuuri’s job as the creator of the popular manga and anime ‘On ICE!!!’ and noting if the popularity of the series was influenced by Viktor’s constant praised for the manga. Some other nasty articles talked about how Viktor’s and Yuuri’s relationship was a way to boost the popularity of the anime which was currently aired on television. Viktor frowned when he read these kinds of articles. Yuuri didn’t need that kind of thing to make his work popular. It already was popular even before they had a relationship.

  
His fans were supportive, since most of them already knew how much Viktor adored Katsuki Yuuri, though some others were disappointed Viktor was already in a relationship. He didn’t realize how long he had been sitting there, and scrolling down page after page of news articles. Yuuri finally woke up and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

  
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Viktor smiled and put down his phone.

  
“… Vitya… You’re too bright and cheerful in the morning…” he mumbled.

  
“Can’t help it! I won gold last night, and we’re officially boyfriends now,” Viktor smiled.

  
“What are you talking about…? We’ve been… boyfriends for months…” Yuuri climbed to Viktor’s bed and cuddled up to Viktor. “You’re not wearing clothes…”

  
Viktor laughed. He only slept in his underwear, it had been like that since the beginning. And since this was the first time they shared room (yes, Yuuri always refused to sleep with Viktor when he was staying in St. Petersburg), he just realized it. And his sleepy mind thought cuddling Viktor was the best option right now (remember, Yuuri cuddled everything warm in his half-asleep state).

  
“We’ve become famous, Yuuri,” Viktor chuckled and pulled Yuuri into his arms.

  
“Hmm…? Good, good…” he mumbled and snuggled closer.

  
Viktor just chuckled at the reaction. Well, he had to prepare himself when Yuuri found out about it, fully awake. Right now, he just wanted to cuddle. Viktor got an idea as he wrapped himself and Yuuri under the warm blanket until their heads were the only things poking out. Yuuri was still deeply asleep, cuddling up to Viktor when the Russian skater took a selfie of them and posted it on Instagram.

>    
>    
>    
>  Morning! Sleeping Beauty @katsudon-kun is not a morning person…  
>  #morning #love #viktuuri

  
  
  
Viktor chuckled and put down his phone after he posted it. He just wanted to cuddle up some more right now.

  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Phichit smirked when he watched Viktor’s interview on the sports channel. Of course Viktor would say something like that on an interview after he won gold in his first assignment for Grand Prix. And look at how love struck the man was when he talked about his theme this year.

  
“Yes, my theme this year is ‘first love’… and the one who inspired me about my programs this year would be the most important person in my life, Katsuki Yuuri…” the interview went on and Viktor proudly said that yes, he and Yuuri were in a romantic relationship, and yes, it had been going on for a few months now.

  
Phichit snickered. Finally! The #viktuuri he made could be popular now. How perfect could their couple name be? He grinned and posted a candid shot he took of Viktor and Yuuri during Viktor’s stay in Japan. In the photo, Yuuri was working on his manga while Viktor was leaning over him with coffee mug in his hand. It looked domestic, and Phichit loved it.

  
He didn’t forget to put #viktuuri in the caption.

  
And soon the photo became viral.

  
Phichit smiled proudly. His phone buzzed quietly when he saw someone DM-ed him. It was Viktor.

 

>   
>    
>    
>  _Nice photo. Do you have more?_

  
  
Phichit quickly replied.

 

>   
>    
>    
>  _I have a whole folder here, but I’m not sharing them with you ;)_

  
  
  
Viktor’s reply came immediately.

 

>   
>    
>    
>  _Awww… why not? :(_

  
  
  
Phichit laughed.

 

>   
>    
>  _Because I’m the captain of this ship._

  
  
  
With that, he put away his phone for a while and stretched his body. Well, he still had his art project he had to finish soon.

  
So, let’s do this.

 

* * *

  
  
  
  
**Present**  
  
  
  
When he won his sixth gold medal in the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri rushed towards the Kiss and Cry to congratulate him. Viktor smiled when Yuuri stood in front of him, his arms open to hug Viktor. Without thinking, Viktor skated over to him and jumped at him, letting them crash to the ground. He could hear Yakov yelling about ‘dangerous things’ and ‘injuring yourself’, but he didn’t care. He kissed Yuuri when they were lying on the ground briefly before Yakov made them get up.

  
“Sorry for jumping on you like that…” Viktor smiled as he held Yuuri’s hand. “Were you hurt?” he asked softly.  
  
“No… I’m fine,” Yuuri nodded. “Were you hurt? It was really stupid throwing yourself at me like that. What if you got injured?” Yuuri scolded him.

  
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Yakov nodding in approval at Yuuri’s words.

  
“Well, that seemed like the most logical thing to do,” Viktor said as the three of them sat and waited for Viktor’s scores. This score would determine who would be the winner of this year’s Grand Prix Final, and so far, Yurio was in the first place followed by Chris in second place. Yurio, in his senior debut, gave a wonderful performance in his free skate, Yuuri was proud with the complex choreography, done by the famous Lilia Baranovskaya, the Bolshoi Ballet’s prima ballerina, herself.

  
When the score was shown, Yuuri smiled proudly and hugged Viktor tightly. Viktor was grinning like a maniac and pulled Yuuri into a ridiculous version of a victory dance. This was his sixth gold medal in the Grand Prix, and his score just broke another world record.

  
“I still think it’s too early for your retirement, Vitya,” Yakov sighed when Viktor hugged the coach. “You can have another season.”

  
Viktor shook his head and smiled. “I’ll announce it at the press conference later. This years World Championship will be the last,” he said, and glanced at Yuuri, squeezing his fiancé’s hand gently.

  
Yakov sighed. “You’re really stubborn,” he rubbed his forehead.

  
“No, not stubborn,” Viktor winked. He pulled Yuuri’s hand and kissed the gold band around Yuuri’s ring finger gently. “Just in love,” he smiled and looked deep into Yuuri’s eyes. Yuuri was blushing bright red.

  
“Shut up, you’re embarrassing,” Yurio pouted and crossed his arms angrily. He was bitter that he couldn’t win gold in his senior debut.

  
Viktor just smiled innocently and turned to Yuuri again.

  
“Vitya… I might start writing shoujo manga if you start spouting that kind of cheesy line…” Yuuri mumbled. He was embarrassed, but he looked very happy as he looked up to Viktor.

  
“Oooh! Let’s do that! Will you finally let Alexei and Rin get together now?” Viktor asked excitedly.

  


* * *

  
  
  
  
**One year ago.**

  
  
  
Yuuri cried, watching Viktor’s performance in the exhibition gala after the Grand Prix Final.

  
Viktor never told him about the routine he would do this year, and Yuuri didn’t know what to expect. A familiar song played, and Yuuri quickly recognized the tune of his own anime opening. The crowds cheered when they heard it and Viktor skated the opening scene perfectly even donned the perfect cosplay of Alexei Romanov while he was at it, adding his own spin to fill up the 3 minutes long song and making it more complex than the actual choreography.

  
Viktor was smiling stupidly when he saw Yuuri’s flushed face watching him. The Russian skater was proud, because this one was originally put together by Yuuri and the animation team for ‘On ICE!!!’. Yuuri was so proud of the work and spent so much time watching it over and over again. Viktor remembered curling up with Yuuri on Yuuri’s couch, watching the first episode of ‘On ICE!!!’. He sneaked out from St. Petersburg for a few days, just to be with Yuuri during the first airing of Yuuri’s work.

  
Yuuri wiped his tears when Viktor started the step sequence during the second half of the song, reaching out to Yuuri which made the Japanese mangaka blush softly,  and laugh at Viktor’s lovesick expression. When the song was finished, Viktor skated over to Yuuri and pulled him into a kiss.

  
On international television this time.

  
And it wasn’t a soft peck he always gave Yuuri in the Kiss and Cry.

  
This time it was a real kiss, long and deep, leaving Yuuri breathless once Viktor pulled away and licked his lips. Yuuri covered his face in embarrassment, but he didn’t refuse when Viktor pulled him into a tight hug.

  
The #viktuuri became even more famous that night.

 

* * *

  
  
  
  
No one would be surprised if Viktor Nikiforov won the first place in Grand Prix Final. After flawless records for these past five years, everyone knew Viktor Nikiforov was a Living Legend. Rather than him winning gold, everyone was more interested on his new found love life. Viktor had dragged Yuuri along to the Grand Prix Final banquet. Yuuri kept himself close to Viktor all the time, feeling awkward, just standing in silence. He quietly scooted closer to refreshment table and started to drink glass after glass of champagne.

  
Yuuri was sure he would get drunk soon, but luckily, Christophe Giacometti approached him before he would start dancing around shamelessly.

  
“If I were you, I would stop now before I start to pole dance, half naked,” the Swiss skater said to him. Yuuri looked up and blushed lightly, finding himself talking to a famous skater that wasn’t Viktor. He still felt awkward without Viktor around, but right now, Viktor was still talking to other party guests and Yuuri didn’t want to stick to him all the time.

  
Yuuri looked at the fourth flute of champagne in his hand and thanked Chris quietly for stopping him before he embarrassed himself.

  
“You don’t have to feel awkward, Yuuri. Everyone actually wanted to talk to you. I want to congratulate you now that your relationship with Viktor has become official, and also, I really enjoyed your work on ‘On ICE!!!’. It’s such a magnificent anime and I really enjoyed the manga as well,” Chris winked and lifted his own flute of champagne.

  
“Oh… thanks,” Yuuri blushed. He was happy his work got more recognition nowadays after the anime adaptation was released. He had several share fans coming up to him when he was sitting around in the lobby. Apparently they knew him from Viktor’s social media pages and recognized him as the creator of that famous figure skating manga and anime ‘On ICE!!!’.

  
He talked to Chris for a while, finding the Swiss skater was a lot nicer than he thought. Chris even shared some embarrassing stories of his own during competitions and sometimes it included Viktor as well. The conversations flowed nicely and Yuuri drank more and more champagne (he didn’t realize how much he had drank already).

  
When Chris said the party was getting boring, Yuuri didn’t try to stop him from heading towards a pole in the room (why was there a pole at such fancy party?). When Chris started to take off his clothes, Yuuri only laughed and raised his glass encouragingly. No one tried to stop him, but Viktor was quickly by his side before Yuuri decided to join Chris on the pole as well.

  
“Vitya, let’s dance!” Yuuri grinned and pulled Viktor to the dance floor once Chris was done with his pole dancing.  
  
“Yuuri, are you drunk?” Viktor asked, and smiled. Yuuri was never bold enough to ask him to dance before. Viktor didn’t even know Yuuri could dance (of course he could, he used to be a figure skater!).  
  
“Probably,” Yuuri grinned. “Dance battle?”

  
Viktor laughed. “Sure. Winner can do whatever he wants to the loser?” Viktor challenged.

  
“Deal,” Yuuri nodded. Yuuri took off his glasses and pushed his hair back like he did when he was skating Viktor’s program months ago.

  
Damn, he was hot like that.

  
Chris was ready with his music and played an upbeat song for them. Without hesitation, Yuuri went first, shedding his suit jacket and threw it at Chris. Yuuri started to pull a move that looked like a combination of ballet and street dance. It was beautiful, but Viktor didn’t want to lose. He pulled a move of his own to challenge Yuuri. Everyone was having fun watching the gold winner and his fiancé doing a dance battle in the fancy banquet. The song changed into tango, and without hesitation, the two of them changed their dance style.

  
Soon, the half-naked Chris joined the two and let Yuuri take the center stage and played the woman role while Viktor and Chris played the male roles fighting for the woman. Yuuri was laughing at their antics during the dance-off when Chris finally accepted his defeat and Viktor went to Yuuri as the winner. The dance battle had turned into the romantic tango between Viktor and Yuuri, where the Japanese mangaka took the leading role quickly until the music ended with Yuuri dipping Viktor with a bright smile on his face. Yuuri grinned and pulled Viktor up and kissed him gently.

  
“I win,” Yuuri smiled, he was panting softly and his face flushed softly from the dance.

  
“Looks like you are,” Viktor laughed happily, looking even more tired than Yuuri.

  
“You will do whatever I want you to do,” Yuuri smirked.

  
“Sure. Whatever you want, Princess.”

  
“Then I’m gonna save it for tomorrow when I’m more sober than this,” he leaned to Viktor and clung onto him.

  
The banquet that year was wild and crazy, especially when Yuuri accepted Chris’ challenge for another dance battle (Viktor was doing his best to stop them from doing it on the pole, but he only managed to make sure Yuuri didn’t take off his clothes. Viktor didn’t want to let other people see his Yuuri’s body before he even saw it). Of course, Chris won the round since apparently, he was trained for pole dancing as part of his training menu and Yuuri was an amateur (a talented amateur, Chris would say).

  
The wild night ended with Viktor carrying drunk Yuuri back to their hotel room and Viktor settled Yuuri on his bed. When Viktor was ready to slip into his own bed, Yuuri whined sadly.

  
“Vitya… sleep here tonight…” Yuuri patted the empty space beside him.

  
“Are you sure?” Viktor asked.

  
“Mm-hm…” Yuuri nodded.

  
Viktor smiled and kissed Yuuri’s forehead gently. Well, he was happy he could cuddle with Yuuri until morning, so he slipped into Yuuri’s bed and hugged the smaller male gently. Yuuri was warm and cuddly.  
  
“I love you, Vitya…” Yuuri mumbled sleepily.

  
“I love you too, Yuuri…”

  


* * *

  
  
  
  
**Present.**  
  
  
  
Viktor managed to finish the press conference of the Europeans after announcing his plan of retirement after the World Championship next month. Everyone was surprised, but Chris only gave him a knowing smile. Of course Chris would understand his reason, Viktor thought as he played with the engagement ring on his finger. A few reporters were still trying to question him even when Viktor was already making his way to Yakov and Yuuri, but Viktor only threw a charming smile and casually refused to answer any more questions because his coach and fiancé were waiting for him.

  
“Vitya…” Yuuri looked up at him and hugged Viktor tightly. Yuuri was sad at the thought of Viktor retiring, but at the same time he was happy he finally could be with Viktor.

  
Viktor hugged him back and rubbed gentle circles on the small of Yuuri’s back. “Soon, Yuuri. Soon I can be with you forever,” he whispered gently in Yuuri’s ear.

  
“I… I’m not sure… if I should be sad or happy…” Yuuri whimpered.

  
“You can be both,” Viktor said softly. He tipped Yuuri’s chin gently and wiped the tears from those brown orbs he loved so much. “Come on, _Kotyonok_ , you know I don’t know how to deal with tears…” Viktor chuckled guiltily.

  
“Stupid Viktor,” Yuuri huffed.

  
“Sorry…”  
  
Yakov kindly handed them tissues so Viktor could wipe Yuuri’s tears. The old coach ushered them quickly to the hotel they were staying at. Viktor hugged Yuuri tightly the whole way to the hotel, neither said anything until they arrived in front of Viktor and Yuuri’s room. Viktor gently told Yuuri to get inside first. Yuuri nodded and went in. After he made sure Yuuri was inside, Viktor turned to Yakov.  
  
“I need to tell you something,” Viktor said quietly.

  
“Of course, Vitya,” Yakov nodded.

  
“I want you to keep it a secret from Yuuri.”

  
Yakov raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything except,

  
“Sure. Speak now.”

  


* * *

  
  
  
  
**One year ago.**

  
  
  
Yuuri was blushing bright red after he told Viktor his proposition. They were sitting in their bed, Yuuri wasn’t drunk enough last night to give him a nasty hangover in the morning, and luckily he still remembered their bet last night. Viktor was guessing Yuuri would ask him for another date, or for Viktor to take an embarrassing photo of himself, or anything really. But he didn’t think Yuuri would ask for this.

  
“Yuuri… are you sure…?” Viktor asked gently. He didn’t want Yuuri to regret this decision later.

  
“I’ve been thinking… of asking you… But, I never… found the right time… and I thought… I thought…” Yuuri blushed even harder and looked down at his lap.

  
“Yuuri… Yuuri, look at me,” Viktor said gently. “Are you sure…?”

  
Yuuri nodded, this time he looked determined.

  
Ah, Viktor was always weak when he saw that look on Yuuri. He leaned down and kissed Yuuri gently on the lips.

  
“I don’t want you to regret it, Yuuri,” Viktor said softly.

  
“I won’t,” Yuuri said. This time, his voice was more sure than before. Yuuri had made his decision. “Tonight…” he continued, “Please have sex with me.”

  
  
  



	14. Mangaka and Skater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they lived happily ever after (?)...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this last chapter earlier than usual... with the Epilogue soon followed ^^
> 
> Thank you so much for your support so far! This fic will end soon, but I'm still going strong writing more in this AU, so please don't forget to check out other stories in this series~
> 
> And to my dear Beta, thank you so much for helping me with this! 
> 
> And also, I'm back on Tumblr now ^^ so, feel free to find me [here](https://aquaregiastuff.tumblr.com/)!

 

**One year ago.**

 

Viktor Nikiforov breezed through the competition. After Grand Prix, he won gold at Russian Nationals and Europeans. Yuuri was proud of him. After _that_ night post-Grand Prix Final, their relationship was moving forward. Yuuri felt bad he couldn’t attend the Russian Figure Skating Championship where Viktor got  first place. Yuuri made sure he watched the live-stream and called Viktor before his turn on ice. When Viktor won, Yuuri booked a ticket to St. Petersburg so he could celebrate it with Viktor.

And Yuuri was glad he could come to the European Championship (under the guise he would collect more materials for the manga). They managed to squeeze a date on the day before the competition started and had fun.

Yuuri met again with several skaters he already knew from the Grand Prix Final, they even had Chris and Yurio crashing their date. Viktor introduced him to the other skaters as well (at least the ones he remembered, Viktor said he was bad with names).

“Yuuri, this time I’ll win gold too!” Viktor said happily, after he done with his warm up.

“Of course,” Yuuri smiled and kissed his cheek gently. “I’m so proud of you, Vitya.”

“Next stage is the World…” Viktor smiled.

“Let’s do our best,” Yuuri nodded.

“Don’t take your eyes off me, Yuuri…” Viktor whispered softly, before he took off his jacket and skated smoothly to his position.

And Yuuri never took his eyes of Viktor when he danced on the ice. Because he couldn’t. Viktor’s move captivated him, holding him hostage at each spin, each step, and each jump. Yuuri couldn’t take his eyes off the silver haired man on the ice.

Viktor had brought his program to the next stage. He was even better than before. Better than in the Grand Prix Final, better than in the Russian Nationals. Yuuri held his breath when Viktor landed his quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination perfectly when the song reached its climax and Viktor went to flying sit spin.

Yuuri kissed him deeply when Viktor won his gold.

They celebrated again afterwards in the privacy of their room.

 

* * *

 

Viktor didn’t remember how he won gold in the World Championship. Everything was a blur to him, except the sight of Yuuri standing on the rink side cheering for him. Viktor pushed himself, giving the best performance because he knew Yuuri was there watching him. Yuuri was cheering for him, and Viktor knew Yuuri only deserved the best.

His jumps went smoother than before.

His landings were solid and perfect.

His step sequence was beautiful.

His spins were exceptional.

He was the only one who could captivate Yuuri.

His perfect and talented little katsudon, Viktor smiled. He wanted to go to Japan again after the championship was over. He would try to bargain with Yakov to let him stay longer this time. They hadn’t eaten ramen in Sapporo yet, and Viktor wanted to go to Yuuri’s hometown in Hasetsu. Yuuri said his parents own a hot spring inn. That sounded like a perfect destination for vacation. But that would mean meeting Yuuri’s parents…

He should ask Yuuri or Yakov about the gifts he should bring when meeting his boyfriend’s parents.

Viktor’s eyes were searching for Yuuri again, and he smiled. Yuuri’s favorite jump was a triple axel when he was still active as a figure skater, maybe Viktor should switched his triple flip to triple Axel this time… Viktor took off for a triple Axel and landed it perfectly. He danced,  pouring everything he got until the music came to an end.

Viktor panted softly, until he realized the crowds were cheering loudly for him. He smiled and bowed to the audience and the judges, waving slightly before he saw Yuuri waiting for him in Kiss and Cry.

So Viktor rushed to him as quick as he could.

This time he would try to convince Yakov to let him have a month off for vacation.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri woke up late as usual, realizing he was in Japan. In his apartment, to be exact. He found his body still tangled up with Viktor after last night. Viktor only managed to bargain three weeks off instead of a month. Well, it was better than nothing, Yuuri smiled. It was a rare sight for him to be awake before Viktor, so he spent his time studying Viktor’s sleeping figure in silence.

Did Viktor always do this whenever he woke up before Yuuri? Just lying there and watching Yuuri slowly wake up from his sleep? Well, Yuuri wasn’t sure if it was creepy or romantic, but then again, Viktor was always being a romantic creep (Yurio’s words). Yuuri himself was a romantic creep, he smiled and glanced at the Viktor Nikiforov shrine in the corner of his room (Viktor was tearing up happily when he realized how much Yuuri liked him before they were even in a relationship, and he proudly showed  Yuuri his own shrine of Katsuki Yuuri).

“Hmmm…? Yuuri…? Are you really awake before me…?” Viktor mumbled. “What time is it…?” he yawned.

“11 in the morning,” Yuuri answered.

“Oh no… I forgot to walk Makkachin…!” Viktor jumped out of the bed and put on some sweatpants and a shirt before he ran out of the bedroom. Yuuri chuckled and followed him after he put on some clothes as well.

It turned out Phichit was already there and took the liberty to feed Makkachin, and walked him because Viktor and Yuuri were still asleep. They had a late-breakfast before Yuuri prepared to do some drawing.

“Yuuri, let’s go to the skating rink today,” Viktor said to Yuuri.

“But the manuscript...” Yuuri glanced at his desk.

“It’s fine, Sensei. I haven’t finished the background for some pages anyway, so you can go to the rink today,” Phichit smiled. “Minako-san and Yuuko-san will come later too. We’ll be fine.”

Viktor gave Yuuri his best puppy eyes, Yuuri swore if he had a tail it would be wagging cutely behind, until Yuuri relented. He sighed and nodded. “Let me get my skates.”

Once everything was ready, both of them started to jog to the Ice Castle. Celestino let them use the rink until the evening, and told Yuuri to lock up after they were done. Yuuri thanked his old coach happily. He opened the rink and stretched for a while with Viktor. They were talking about nothing in particular. Viktor was planning on leveling up on his Gun-pla building, and Yuuri happily told him about the new model he just bought. After they finished lacing up their skates they walked onto the ice.

Yuuri was gliding absentmindedly while Viktor was trying a new choreography for his short program. Yuuri was watching curiously at the movements that were somewhat familiar to him.

“Is it tango?” Yuuri asked.

“Hm? Yeah,” Viktor nodded. “I had a really nice dance-off in the last GPF banquet, my partner and I were dancing tango… sort of…”

“Oh, really?” Yuuri grinned.

“Yup. And he was drunk too,” Viktor nodded.

“You based the choreography of your short program on a drunk’s dancing?” Yuuri laughed.

“Well, he was really mesmerizing,” Viktor smiled.

“Hmm… What’s the theme and the music for this one?”

“’On Love: Eros’. The theme is sexual love.”

“Interesting,” Yuuri smiled. “I should watch it with the music next time.”

“You should,” Viktor said, “But for now, let’s do ‘Stay Close to Me’.”

“You mean pair skate? I can’t pair skate…” Yuuri shook his head and skated over to the speaker to find other music.

“You skate as usual, I’ll match you up,” Viktor said. “Please?” And there he goes with the puppy eyes again. Damn, Viktor Nikiforov already knew his weakness now.

“Don’t blame me if you get hurt!” Yuuri said, in the end. He selected the music for ‘Stay Close to Me’ before he went to the center of the ice. Viktor loved this program so much, Yuuri often got called from Russia because Viktor chose to do this program instead of practicing whenever he missed Yuuri. This program was the first time Viktor watched Yuuri skate, even though not perfectly because of Yuuri’s injury.

The Aria started to play, and Yuuri moved. Viktor easily matched his movements, as if they had rehearsed it before. They both knew better than trying any dangerous moves, so they kept it simple. Yuuri let the music guide him, along with Viktor’s hands on his body. He always enjoyed skating. He loved it so much, and right now, skating with Viktor like this… Skating with someone he loved was even more enjoyable.

Viktor was always there whenever he wanted Viktor to be. Never too far,  as they danced to their music. Viktor always met him halfway, ready to pull  Yuuri closed to him.

This was their song, Yuuri decided. They entered the climax and changed the dynamics by skating side by side together, movements identical to each other. The combination spin… Yuuri could feel his leg was throbbing, but he was too far into the music right now.

And it ended.

Yuuri opened his eyes, realizing that he had looped his arms around Viktor’s neck while,  Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s waist, face only inches apart. Both of them were panting softly, face flushed.

“See? Told you we can do this,” Viktor smiled.

Yuuri laughed and pulled Viktor into a kiss. They stayed close for a while before pulling away slowly with a huge grin on their faces.

“Yuuri, I…” Viktor hesitated as he looked at Yuuri.

“Hm?” Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure… how I should do this. I planned on doing this after the Europeans, but I kept chickening out,” Viktor sighed.

Yuuri blinked in confusion when he saw the soft vulnerable look in Viktor’s eyes. He gulped and blushed lightly at the sight. Viktor looked so different like that. Yuuri always saw the confident side of Viktor, the flirty side, but never this vulnerable.

“Vitya…?” Yuuri cupped his face gently and looked into those beautiful blue orbs that he came to love so much.

Viktor took a deep breath, and held Yuuri’s hand gently in his. Yuuri waited for him to say anything at this point, so he kept quiet and waiting in silence until Viktor talked again.

“Yuuri… I know we have been together in a relationship for a short time, and most of it was spent on video chat and texting… But I love you. I have never loved anyone the way I love you,” Viktor whispered softly. “And I know… I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Yuuri’s eyes widened. He roughly got the idea of where this would go, and he could feel his heart was pounding in his chest. He swore he couldn’t breathe, right there, standing on the ice with their skates, face still flushed from the program they did together. The rink was empty and it was just the two of them right now. The moment was private, and for a while, Yuuri’s whole world revolved around the silver haired male standing in front of him, still holding his hand gently and said the words,

“Yuuri, will you marry me?”

Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat and he couldn’t hold back the smile from his face. In that moment, Viktor was his whole world.

There was only Viktor.

Viktor.

His dear Vitya.

So, Yuuri did the most reasonable thing a human, who was in love with his Russian skater of a boyfriend would do. He tackled Viktor onto the ice with a hug, and kissed him on the lips.

“Yes,” Yuuri said simply. Because there was nothing else to say, really. Yuuri watched the beautiful smile bloom on Viktor’s face. “Yes, Vitya…”

They lay on the ice for a while, neither wanted to let go of each other. Viktor clung onto Yuuri as much as the Japanese man clung onto him. Viktor didn’t care how cold the ice felt on his back, Yuuri was there to warm him up. Viktor swore he would never let go of Yuuri.

No, he could never let this man go.

Because Yuuri knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Viktor as well.

 

* * *

**Present**

 

“ _Representing Russia, this is… Viktor Nikiforov!_ ” the commentator announced as Viktor Nikirforov skated smoothly onto the ice. “ _This is will be Viktor’s last performance in  competitive figure skating, as he announced his retirement during the Grand Prix Final, he will retire after World Championship._ ”

“ _It’s really sad news to the figure skating community, but after winning consecutive gold medals, Viktor Nikiforov clearly wants to retire with unrivalled performance!_ ”

“ _In tonight’s free skate, Viktor seems to be changing his program from the one he used in Grand Prix and Europeans Championship. In his final skate, Viktor Nikiforov will skate to the music; ‘Yuri on Ice’.”_

Katsuki Yuuri gasped when he looked at Viktor standing in the middle of the ice, head bowed down in a familiar pose Yuuri knew so well. _His_ final skate… before the retirement… the soft piano intro started to play, and Viktor moved.

_“The song was originally composed for Viktor Nikiforov’s fiancé, Katsuki Yuuri, who is known as a famous mangaka with a hit manga and anime about figure skating called ‘On ICE!!!’. This particular song is supposed to be depicting the career and dreams of Katsuki-sensei when he was still active as a figure skater before he was  forced into retirement…_ ”

Yuuri was clenching his fists tightly, and watched Viktor transition into every part of the choreography perfectly. Viktor never told him he would do this… In his last performance on the ice as a competitive figure skater, he chose this song…

_“The first jump will be quad-to-double toe combinations… and he lands it perfectly!”_

Yuuri held his breath when he saw Viktor pour his heart and soul into this program. How…? How could he know about this program? About this song? About Yuuri’s choreography? Sure, Viktor had added more quads since Yuuri only got one quad during his Junior years, but still…

_“Here we go for the quad Salchow… what a beautiful landing! The jump composition of this program is a bit different than the usual for Viktor. It seems like Viktor Nikiforov kept the original choreography as a tribute for Katsuki Yuuri-sensei while adding a few quads and spins of his own…_ ”

Viktor took off for the triple Axe, and added another quad to Yuuri’s program perfectly. The crowds cheer loudly, but Yuuri didn’t hear any of them. His eyes focused on Viktor. He couldn’t take his eyes off the man he loved, dancing on the ice for him and only him… Viktor smoothly transitioned into the second half of the program, the beautiful spread eagle and an Ina Bauer.

_“And here is the triple Axel-single Loop-triple Salchow combination… Perfect!”_

Viktor was beautiful. Viktor was the only one who could surprise Yuuri like this. Yuuri covered his mouth when Viktor went into the last combination, triple Lutz-triple Flip combination… and it went beautifully. It was perfect, just like Viktor. In his last performance before he closed a chapter of his career as a competitive figure skater, he skated to this song. Yuuri felt the tears well up in his eyes, when he remembered years ago he was skating to this. Yuuri’s last performance before he was forced to end his career because of that accident…

_“Now the step sequence…_ ”

This song told a story of a lonely Katsuki Yuuri, being all alone.

This song told a story of the young Katsuki Yuuri, who  found figure skating and loved  it. In figure skating he found friends. In figure skating he found…

Viktor Nikiforov.

His dream to stand on the same ice as Viktor as equals never went as he planned, in his young naïve mind.

This song told a story about those hopes and dreams.

And now it  also told a story about love. Viktor’s love for Yuuri, and Yuuri’s love for Viktor.

“ _What a mesmerizing step sequence! Now for the last quad it will be a quadruple toe loop…_ ”

Viktor took off and Yuuri gasped. It wasn’t a quad toe-loop. It was a quad Flip.

“ _A quadruple flip! An unbelievable quadruple flip at the end of the program! A quad flip is Viktor Nikiforov’s signature move, but never before had he attempted it in the very end of his program!”_

Yuuri could feel the warm tears run down his cheek. Of course it would be a quad flip. Viktor loved surprising everyone, and he loved surprising Yuuri. The audience might not understand the meaning of that quad flip like Yuuri did. It was Yuuri’s song. It was ‘Yuuri on Ice’. It was Yuuri’s story. And Viktor just ended Yuuri’s story with a beautiful quad flip, Viktor’s signature move.

Because Yuuri’s story always ended up with Viktor.

Because Yuuri wanted Viktor to be his forever ever  after,  as much as Viktor wanted to be Yuuri’s forever ever after.

Stupid Viktor, making  him cry like this!

When Viktor moved to the final spin as the song came to an end, he spread his arms and put the last pose of the program. But instead reaching up like Yuuri did, Viktor’s hand was reaching out to Yuuri who was standing by the rink side.

He was smiling softly, cheek flushed after such a demanding program. Viktor wasn’t in his youth like Yuuri was, and clearly, Yuuri’s old self had more stamina than Viktor. But he was still delivering his last performance perfectly.

Without waiting for Yakov, Yuuri had ran to the Kiss and Cry. He should smack Viktor’s head for not telling him about this. Maybe he should smack Yakov as well because clearly the grumpy old coach had a hand in this, and Yuuri was sure Viktor told Yakov about changing his free skate secretly. And Yuuri suspected his old coach was also involved in this. He stopped in the Kiss and Cry, and watched Viktor skate towards him with a happy smile on his face.

“Yuuri! Do you like it?” he asked cheerfully.

Stupid Viktor.

Before Viktor could jump onto him like he did in last years Grand Prix, Yuuri decided to lunge himself onto the ice and kissed Viktor, letting their bodies fall onto the ice after the short kiss. Yuuri pulled away, still crying happy tears.

“Stupid Viktor… why didn’t you tell me…?” Yuuri mumbled.

“Well, if I did, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” Viktor smiled up gently.

“I should smack you now. Did Celestino tell you about this?”

“In a way. He gave me your last FS program when I asked to see one of your skating videos, after I saw you skate ‘Stay Close to Me’. I always watched it on the night before my competitions once you’re asleep until my phone battery was empty.”

“Stupid Vitya.”

Viktor only laughed and hugged Yuuri.

“Yuuri…”

“Hm…”

“Somehow this reminds me of my proposal…”

“Hm…”

“Let’s get married next month.”

“Okay.”

“I still never got your autograph,  even though I’m your biggest fan…”

“I’ll sign anything for you…”

“Well, I’ll be happy to have your autograph on the marriage registration form…”

“Vitya…”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Viktor won his gold at his last World Championship while breaking another record he set last year. Yet, for Viktor, the most important gold was the one that was wrapped nicely on his and Yuuri’s ring fingers months later.

They were perfect.

 

 

 


	15. (Epilogue) Yuuri and Viktor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which their lives went on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last everyone^^ Thank you so much for everyone who had read this story and enjoyed it as much as I did when I wrote it... Thank you for your support! I'm really happy with all your comments and kudos, they're brighten my day XD I'm sad I have to end this, but I feel excited to keep going on expanding this AU! If you want to see particular scene or story that I hadn't included in this fic, feel free to give me ideas for one-shots in this series~
> 
> And special thanks to my sweet beta-RP-soulmate for working hard proof reading this^^ Thank you so much, Sweetie~
> 
> On with the story, and tell me what do you think~!

 

**Future**

 

Viktor Nikiforov always loved Katsuki Yuuri’s hands. They were smaller than his, but it felt perfect when Viktor held them in his when they walked back home from the grocery store, or in a cold winter night where they would just walk around the neighborhood, because Yuuri was tired of being cooped up in the studio.

Yuuri’s hands were warm, rough and calloused from holding pens and drawing for hours every day, doing his job as a mangaka. Sometimes, after a long battle against deadline Viktor could see the ink smudges and scraps of screen tones that adorned those hands, maybe a few Band-Aids from the cuts he got while applying tones (Yuuri couldn’t apply the screen tone without getting small cuts on his fingers), and cold compresses on his wrists. At times like this, after Nishigori came and picked up the manuscript and all the assistants went home, Viktor would let Yuuri curl up with him in bed while the older male held those hard-working hands gently. Yuuri’s hands were amazing. From it came wonderful art that told a story. A story that made them meet each other and fall in love.

Viktor was grateful he could meet his perfect Yuuri. The person he thought as a mere fan at first, but it turned out, Viktor was also Yuuri’s biggest fan (come on, he sent fan letters, and used Minami to get things that he could geek out about, related to Yuuri’s manga ‘On ICE!!!’). Viktor knew Yuuri had a shrine for him in the corner of his bedroom (yes, Viktor had seen it), but Viktor himself also had shrine dedicated to Yuuri, and all of his works. Viktor even managed to get his hands on the Akamaru JUMP that had the first one-shot of what would be the ‘On ICE!!!’ series. And all of that creation was born from those smaller calloused hands Viktor was holding right now.

“Vitya, I want to eat oden,” Yuuri said out of nowhere. “Let’s go to the convenience store.”

So they walked, still hand in hand, to the nearest convenience store. Yuuri grabbed the latest edition of JUMP before he got the oden. Viktor bought the drinks for them. They sat inside the store, eating oden while Yuuri was checking out the rank of manga in JUMP.

“Rank four again…” Yuuri said as he saw the position of ‘On ICE!!!’. “I was hoping it could get the first place before I ended it…”

Viktor looked up from the comic magazine and stared at Yuuri in shock. “You will end to ‘On ICE!!!’?” he asked sadly.

“I think it’s time to end it now. The last arc will soon be done anyway,” Yuuri said slowly. “I have talked to Nishigori, and planned my next work now…”

“But Yuuri, your manga is still ranked high. Fourth place isn’t that bad, right?” Viktor asked. “You can put more arcs… like they would be taking down the World for the second time…”

“No. The readers would only get bored. I don’t want to be disrespectful of my characters; I want them to have a glorious ending, right when they were high up in the first place,” Yuuri smiled. “I love Rin and Alexei; I love Sergei, and every single character I made. I want to give them the best possible ending.”

Viktor blinked as he saw that Yuuri looked sad at the prospect.  ‘On ICE!!!’ meant a lot to both of them. It was how they met each other; it was how they fell in love with each other. The thought of ending it was really a big blow for them. Viktor reached for Yuuri’s hands gently, and brought it to his lips. He kissed them gently and smiled.

“It’s okay, Yuuri. Everything these hands make are the most wonderful things in the world,” Viktor said as he laced their fingers together. Viktor loved it, how much their hands fit like two matching pieces of a puzzle.

“Give them the most beautiful ending.”

Yuuri smiled brightly, and nodded as he nuzzled their hands. Viktor knew everything Yuuri made would be amazing. Yuuri had the best hands. They were rough and calloused, yet warm and gentle. Yuuri’s hands told a story.

“I love you so much, Yuuri,” Viktor said.

“I love you too, Vitya.”

They sat there, eating their oden in a small convenience store after declaring their love to each other, hands still entwined with each other.

“By the way, Yuuri. The best possible ending for them would be Alexei finally marrying Rin. They’re so in love with each other,” Viktor said as he bit into his atsuage. Yuuri was busy blowing his ganmodoki before he bit into it.

Yuuri looked up to Viktor with a sweet secretive smile on his face.

“Hm… I wonder about that…”

“Oh, come on, Yuuri!”

“I don’t want to give you any spoilers…”

“Yuuri!!”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr at [aquaregiastuff](https://aquaregiastuff.tumblr.com/), and let's be friend! XD


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